


Save Every Day

by xxxraquelita



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2017-12-26 17:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 57,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/968407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxxraquelita/pseuds/xxxraquelita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a moment when you say to yourself, there you are -- I’ve been looking for you forever. Looking back on that moment and all the moments since, I’m glad to say we spent our lives together. And we were happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Blaine had told him he was making a video for a time capsule, Kurt hadn't quite known what to expect.

 

The phrase 'time capsule' brought back memories of when he'd been in first grade and they'd made one to bury out in the schoolyard to be dug up forty years later – or some frame of time like that. Everyone had gotten to choose one thing to put inside that they thought would be interesting for the people from the future to find, something that was supposed to help them learn about what life had been like for them back when they'd buried it. Of course no one had chosen anything relevant, and if the teachers had really been aiming for that then they should have waited until the students were old enough to immediately pick something they regarded as important – most of which were only important to them personally.

 

Kurt had put in a wrench from the toy toolbox his dad had for him at his shop and he was sure that the people from the future, if they ever even dug up the box, wouldn't glean any kind of information from that at all. Then again, what could they possibly from anything in that box? From what he recalled, it had at least half a dozen matchbox cars and two Disney princess figurines, and all the other assorted items were along the same lines as that.

 

Blaine had sounded excited about the video he'd made, and had sent it to him so he could see it before it was trapped away to wait fifty years before it was seen again – though Kurt was sure it would be readily available to watch at any time considering it was a digital time capsule, but that wasn't the point. What really mattered was that it was something Blaine had made to talk about his senior year, at least what of it had happened that far, and what he considered to be important to be reminded of down the road.

 

Not knowing what to expect, because the year had been a bit of a roller coaster for everyone, Kurt settled in on his bed with his laptop in front of him and a mug of tea sitting on the bedside table. His pillows were propped against the wall and made for a good place to lean against as he pulled his computer in closer and opened the file he'd received from Blaine, double clicking on the icon for the video and bumping up the volume until it hit its maximum.

 

Seeing Blaine brought a smile to his face, especially with the look of concentration he had making sure the camera was turned on and how that melted its way into a smile. It was a smile he was familiar with, just like most of Blaine's smiles – he would have said all except he was sure there were some he had yet to discover, and he couldn't wait to find them so he could be familiar with them, too – and Kurt reached over to get his tea without looking away from the screen, holding the mug in against his chest with both hands as his own smile spread across his features, not able to stop as Blaine went on, and a laugh tripped from his tongue at the mention of stem cell injections and how Blaine congratulated himself for thinking of them.

 

Everything about how Blaine was looking into the camera and speaking was earnest and perfect, which was why Kurt's expression softened but remained just as happy when Blaine mentioned him, his smile widening at what Blaine said about him being the star of the galaxy, and then another laugh rippling out at how  Blaine caught what he said and went back over it. It was so wonderfully Blaine that he couldn't stop himself from replying to the screen after the next part of what he said, murmuring out a quiet, "And I love you, Blaine."

 

It was interesting to hear Blaine recap the year, to hear about all the things that had gone on at the school while he'd been away in New York. It was strange to feel so disconnected from a place where he'd been involved for years, to hear about the glee club that had been such a big part of him and the new people that had stepped into the roles that he and his classmates had vacated when they'd graduated. He couldn't deny that they were good, because he'd seen and heard them and knew enough of the people still in it – especially Blaine – to know that there was no way they'd be anything but.

 

There had been such highs and lows of that year, a roller coaster like he'd thought before, because Kurt knew there was no way Blaine wouldn't mention what had happened even though both of them had made their peace and moved past it. Yes, they'd broken up – and still technically were, but that wasn't important – but it wasn't as though they were lingering on the past. Apologies had been made from both of them, forgiveness passed from each to the other, and what had caused them to break up wasn't something that Kurt particularly wanted to spend much time thinking about when there were so many better things to focus on. Like the rest of the video, and the fact that their break up hadn't been the worst thing to happen that year even though it had felt like it at the time.

 

By the time the video ended, all Kurt could do was sit there and stare at the screen in front of him and the frozen picture of Blaine leaning in to turn off the camera that had been the last shot of it all. He hadn't done anything like that during his senior year, nor had anyone else he'd known, and the only thing he could think about was what it would be like for Blaine or anyone else in his class to watch that so far into the future and think back onto how it had all been. Would they remember all the bits and pieces? Would they even all be there, the ones who had been so important enough to mention? After all, the video had been about Blaine's friends and how much they'd meant to him, so it seemed sad to think they might not all be there to watch it, but it wasn't like anyone could ever be sure who would be there in fifty years.

 

An idea came to him and one of Kurt's hands moved down from his mug, fingertips drifting over the keyboard as his thumb brushed up the tracking pad to move the cursor on the screen, selecting the Skype icon and letting it log him in before he moved the arrow over to Blaine's name. He was online, which Kurt had almost been certain he would be considering the day and time and how he knew Blaine was usually home then, and Kurt took a sip of his tea as he double clicked to send a video call to him. Blaine answered almost immediately, but then again he always did, and as soon as the screen loaded fully, Kurt could see that he was still wearing the same outfit he'd been wearing in the video.

 

"Hi," Kurt greeted, reaching over to set his mug down on the table again so he had both his hands free to adjust the screen of his laptop so the camera wasn't aimed at a weird angle.

 

"Hi, Kurt," Blaine answered, a smile brightening up his features as he leaned forward to rest his elbow on his desk and prop his chin against his hand. "How are you?"

 

"I'm good, you?"

 

"I'm great, now," Blaine said, pausing for a moment and looking like he was trying to study him through the screen before going on. "Did you watch it?"

 

"I did," Kurt replied, giving a slight nod and biting the inside of his lip as he smiled. "It was really good, Blaine."

 

"Really?" Blaine asked, his eyebrows raising a little as his head lifted up off his hand. "I know I got off track and rambled for a while but I don't think it came off as bad."

 

"No, no," Kurt said, shaking his head quickly. "It wasn't bad, and I don't think it mattered that you got off track. I thought it was very... honest to you as a person. It would have been weird if it had seemed scripted or if you'd edited it down to take out the cyborgs. What kind of president of a superheros club would do something like that?"

 

"Not a very good one," Blaine replied with an easy grin, and Kurt could see him visibly relaxing as he settled back in his desk chair. "I'm glad you liked it, though."

 

"I did," Kurt said again, bringing his hand up from where it had been resting on his keyboard and folding it with his other one in his lap. "I thought it was a really neat idea to do something like that, because it's hard to remember everything the more time passes, so by the time your fiftieth reunion rolls around, you might not have that as clearly in your mind anymore."

 

"That's what I was thinking. I know that there are yearbooks that will preserve some of it, and then of course the Internet and everything that's been put up on Facebook and Twitter and wherever else, but who knows how long those platforms are going to be around and archiving what all we did." Blaine paused, his nose scrunching in that way Kurt always found a little extra adorable. "Some things would be better left not being archived or remembered, but I wanted to focus on the good things that happened. I wasn't trying to erase the bad, because it's important too, but I thought it was better to remember the good. The bad things shaped us in different ways, and the good did too, but I think what we'll want to remember in fifty years is what was fun and made our senior year great."

 

"No, I think that's a great way to do it," Kurt agreed quietly, looking down and lacing his fingers together as his hands clasped against his leg and he tried to think of how to say what he wanted to. "I like that idea, to make something that will remind you in the future of the great moments you had."

 

"I do, too."

 

"I think we should do it," Kurt said, his gaze moving up from where he'd been looking at his hands, meeting Blaine's and registering the brief confusion that flickered across Blaine's features. It only lasted for a second before Blaine was merely looking at him curiously, trying to figure out what he'd meant. "I know that we're not dating..."

 

"As you often remind me," Blaine replied softly, but there was nothing accusatory in his expression or tone – more like mild amusement, if anything. It wasn't as though Kurt was against the idea, and he hadn't even batted an eye when Blaine had professed on film to him and his entire graduating class that they were going to be married in the future, but the facts were the facts and they simply weren't. "Go on."

 

"...but that doesn't change the fact that you're my best friend," Kurt continued, his thumb rubbing idly against the back of his hand. "Back at Christmas, after we were ice skating, do you remember what you said to me?"

 

"That we'd always be there for each other, even if we weren't together."

 

"Right." The fact that he had a feeling they both knew the 'even if we aren't together' of it was something that wasn't remotely on the table didn't matter, because it wasn't what he was trying to get at. "You're my best friend, and you're always going to be in my life."

 

"Kurt, what are you trying to say?"

 

"I think we should do that," Kurt went on, bringing up one of his hands to gesture toward the video on his laptop as if that would help explain it. "You made this video to document everything important that has happened so far this year, and I think we should do that when important things happen. Fifty years from now, I don't know if I'll be able to remember the details of a specific day, no matter how important that day was. I think we should make little videos, like our own time capsule to keep track of the important things that happen, so when we're fifty years down the road we can look back and have a clear picture of exactly what it was like."

 

There was nothing but silence, but the great thing about Skype was that silence wasn't deafening like it might have been had they just been on the phone. Being able to see Blaine made it easier to deal with the quiet, because he could look at his expression and try to read it, try to figure out what he might be thinking. Kurt was familiar with Blaine's quirks, from the little twitches of the corners of his mouth to the way his brow would furrow just so when he was thinking something through, and that was why the silence didn't bother Kurt as he sat there in it, waiting for some kind of response that wasn't his studying of a pixelated version of Blaine's face on his computer screen.

 

"Because it's like you said – only so much can be archived through pictures or whatever is kept in writing, but having a video to remind us what it was like, so we'll be able to see exactly how we were, hear things in our own words..."

 

"I love that," Blaine said after a long moment, his gaze meeting Kurt's and his eyes seeming to sparkle as his smile spread up to reach them. "I think that's great."

 

"You do?" Kurt asked, one of his eyebrows quirking up slightly. He hadn't expected Blaine not to, but there was always the possibility, even if it was a slight one, that he wouldn't. It wasn't exactly the most conventional idea, but considering Blaine had made a time capsule video where he went off on a tangent about cyborgs, he figured conventional wasn't exactly their style anyway. "

 

"I do," Blaine replied, nodding slowly and smiling even more. "Though as a point of clarification, what exactly constitutes an important thing that should be documented?"

 

"Oh, I hadn't really thought of any criteria but I think... anything we deem worthy?"

 

"So, say you buy an amazing new pair of boots that are just out of this world," Blaine continued, waving his hand airily before resting his elbow against his desk and propping his chin on his hand again. "Video worthy?"

 

"If you're going to make fun of my idea, I'll take it back," Kurt said, giving him a look but not maintaining it for long with how Blaine was grinning at him. "They would have to be very special boots for that to be the case, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility because if they were video worthy, you would know."

 

"Alright, alright," Blaine replied with a soft laugh, shaking his head. "I was just kidding. I mean, the day that I get an armoire that I can dedicate entirely to my bow ties, I'll want that captured on film for posterity, so it's not like I would ever begrudge you the same for your wardrobe as well."

 

"I would say I'm surprised that you don't already have an armoire for your bow ties, but I'm not because I've been in your room."

 

"Many times," Blaine said, nodding. "No, I would but I figured that's a good thing to save for when I have a place of my own and I can really go crazy with them."

 

"You agree, though?" Kurt asked, attempting to steer them back onto the topic he'd called about in the first place. "Not about the boots and bow ties, I mean about the videos."

 

"What? Yes, of course, I thought I'd already said that. I'm definitely on board."

 

"Your video just really got me thinking about that sort of thing, that's all."

 

"Kurt, I'm all for this," Blaine confirmed, reaching his free hand forward almost as though he was going to reach through the screen to take Kurt's hand, but instead he just let it rest over where the keyboard was. "I think it's a great idea. I know when I'm close to seventy, I doubt I'll remember things the way I want to even if I know they're important. It's a good plan, so we can keep our memories just the way we want them and then look back with the clearest picture we're able to have."

 

"Right," Kurt agreed, pausing for a moment before he let a soft smile turn up the corners of his mouth. "Though speaking of when we're seventy..."

 

"Yes?"

 

"Will I need to get these magical stem cell injections?" he asked, one of his eyebrows arching up. "Because if you're going to look just like you do now, I don't want to be looking old and decrepit. I know I'm no Tom Hardy, so..."

 

"Oh stop," Blaine said with a laugh, shaking his head and scrunching his nose for a moment before an easygoing and tender expression took over his features. "What I said about Tom Hardy applies to you, too, except even more so because you're way better. You've always looked good, and you don't need stem cells."

 

"Thanks," Kurt replied, biting the inside of his lip as he grinned. "You know you don't need them either, right?"

 

"Thanks, Kurt." Blaine paused after he spoke, tilting his head and looking off over the top of his laptop for a long moment before directing his gaze back into the camera. "I think I just heard my mom calling up that dinner is ready, so I need to go."

 

"It's fine, I figured it was about that time but I thought I would try giving you a call anyway," Kurt said, offering him a smile and letting his fingers drift across his keyboard again, lingering on the keys as he waited for the time to come when the call was ended. "You go enjoy dinner and I'll talk to you later."

 

"Right, okay," Blaine replied, a soft smile spreading across his face. "I really like this idea."

 

"Me too. We can talk about it more later. Go eat before your mom has to come get you..."

 

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

 

The call ended from Blaine's side before Kurt had a chance to hit the button, but even once it was done he still had a picture of Blaine pulled up on his screen from where the video was stopped at the end. Kurt moved the cursor over it, hitting the button to take it back to the beginning, and sat watching the still picture for a few seconds. It might have been a spur of the moment idea, and clearly not thought all the way through considering his lack of criteria for what was considered something worthy of being documented, but it seemed straightforward enough – and it was him and Blaine, so if something got in there that wasn't necessarily important, he knew it would be something bound to bring a smile to their faces if nothing else, and remind them of a moment all the same.

 

He didn't know what would be the first moment, but it was only a matter of time until they were together again and something happened that needed to be captured. Until then, all he could do was wait – and maybe watch Blaine's video every so often to remind himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The camera stayed out of focus until Blaine leaned back from it, looking into the lens much like he had with the first video he'd made. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with a sweater vest laid over top of it, the yellow trim along the top barely there in the bow tie that was neatly straightened beneath his collar, and then also matched to the jacket hanging neatly from the back of the chair he settled into. The slight look of being unsure how to begin was there, just like with the video he'd made for the reunion, but behind it there was a lingering determination that could easily be picked up by anyone who knew him well.

 

"Well, I know we said we were going to make sure to capture the important moments," he began, his hands clasping in his lap as he kept his gaze steady on the camera in front of him, perched on a table to be at a good height to record him in frame. "As far as I'm concerned, future me, this is the most important moment in my life – our life – so far."

 

There was a pause as his gaze flickered around the room, taking it all in as the silence lingered. From what could be seen around him in the frame, the room was all rich colors, and looked elegant and classy – two words that could easily be used to describe Blaine as well on most normal days, and especially how he looked then and there. He drew in a deep breath as his eyes moved back to the camera and he looked at it evenly, exhaling as he gave a nod and seemed to put himself back in the moment, centering himself in what he was doing.

 

"I know that you know, because you're me, that important moments aren't always planned. Sometimes they sneak up on you without you even realizing it, and then wham, there it is and all you can do is try and take it in while it's happening. Sometimes those come on slowly, too, but just as sneakily – maybe even more so because everything seems like normal but then there's a shift in _one thing_ and then everything's different, in such an important way. That happened to me, and it happened to me here, because one minute I was listening to one of my best friends talk and then the next–"

 

Blaine broke off with a soft chuckle, shaking his head and looking down at his hands. He didn't linger on the moment like he had before, but his gaze stayed down as he spoke again.

 

"–the next was when I knew that he was the person I was going to be with for the rest of my life."

 

Slowly, he looked back up to the camera, a soft smile turning up the corners of his mouth and his eyes sparkling. "That was a moment for me, and one that I wish I had on film so I could watch it over and over again, because I just _knew_. It was important and _beautiful_ and something I will never, ever forget, even without something to watch however many years down the road to remind me. I could forget everything else in the world and still remember how it felt when it happened.

 

"This isn't one of those kind of moments, though," he continued, straightening his shoulders as he sat up a little more, as if preparing himself for what he was going to say. "This is a moment that has been planned down to the last detail as well as I could, and there's only one variable and it's a big one – but even that I'm pretty sure I know will go like I think it will." The smile spread across his features a little more as he tilted his head slightly, looking straight into the lens. "That variable is you, future Kurt, because today's the day I'm going to ask past-you to marry me."

 

There was another pause as Blaine pursed his lips, the corners still tugging into a smile all the same as he let his hands come unclasped from each other so he could reach into his pocket to pull out a ring box, and he leaned forward to get a little closer to the camera as he opened it. He looked down at it for a long moment before turning the box around to face the camera and show what was inside, shifting where his hand was until the camera focused on the ring instead of him.

 

"I've had this for a while, which might sound ridiculous but it's not. I know I haven't even graduated yet, and most people would say that it's not something I need to be thinking about because I'm too young and don't know what I'm doing, but they're wrong." Blaine drew in a breath as he snapped the box shut and let his hand holding it drop down into his lap and the camera focused in on him again. "I figured... I know what my future is, and future-me can attest to that because obviously you've lived it, and my future has always been you, Kurt. You came into Dalton and my life, and once that moment happened, I knew that was it – you were it. That's why I know for sure that future-Kurt is sitting by your side watching this right now, just like I said before when I was making that first video. And also like I said before, I love you, future-Kurt, which is why I'm going to propose to past-Kurt – well, present-Kurt – today.

 

"I know I once said that I'm not very good at romance, and I still don't think I'm that great at it but I'm constantly working to be better at it, which is why I have today planned out as perfectly as I can – because if anyone deserves the most romantic marriage proposal that I could possibly imagine, it's you. I think you deserve to be serenaded to the high heavens and have rose petals raining down from the ceiling and maybe some candles but definitely not too many, because as much as I loved your Phantom of the Opera audition set up, I think it might have scared me off from excessive candle usage for a while."

 

Blaine chuckled softly again and turned the box over in his fingers, his thumb rubbing along the hinge of it as he bit his lip, smiling to himself for a moment before directing it more toward the camera. "I want everything today to be perfect for you, Kurt, because you're perfect to me. So I'm going to go try to make sure it is, and with any luck, then next time you see me we'll be engaged."

 

With a little nod, Blaine smiled to himself again before murmuring a quiet "okay" and leaning forward to turn off the camera, the focus zeroing in on his bow time a split second before the record button got pressed to stop it.

 

––––––––––––

 

When the camera turned on for the second time that day, it was with both of them sitting there – both looking more relaxed and at ease than Blaine had before, and with smiles on their faces that could have lit up the room if it didn't already have lights. It was the same room, though they were sitting close to squeeze into frame fully, so the room itself wasn't that visible beyond glimpses as they shifted in their seats from leaning forward to press the button to record, Kurt's arm looping around Blaine's shoulder and Blaine tucking in against his side so perfectly that it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

 

The peacock blue of Kurt’s brocade jacket looked lush up against the yellow of Blaine’s jacket, which was on him this time instead of on the back of the chair, just like the purple of his shirt did, the colors making them seem that much brighter as if their expressions didn’t already do it enough. They were a jumble of bold colors pressed in against each other, mixing and mingling and lightening up the room they were in.

 

"So, Kurt," Blaine said, clearing his throat softly as he looked over at him, trying to look serious but only managing to smile that much more. "Would you like to recap your afternoon for our future selves?"

 

"I _suppose_ I could..." Kurt began, sighing and feigning a disinterested look until Blaine nudged him in the ribs, making him break from his act and laugh, returning the nudge before looking toward the camera. "Alright, of course I would."

 

"Do tell," Blaine replied, crossing one of his legs over the other to angle himself in a little more toward Kurt, his gaze not moving from where it was fixed watching Kurt’s features.

 

“Well, I was brought back to Ohio to go to a doctor’s appointment with my dad, but now I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually have one and that was all a ploy of yours…”

 

“Maybe,” Blaine admitted, grinning and offering a slight shrug of his shoulder from where it was pressed against Kurt’s side. “To be fair, I didn’t tell him to say doctor’s appointment; I just asked if he could maybe get you into the state and preferably to the right city…”

 

“…and the exact right building,” Kurt finished dryly, giving Blaine a look before leaning in the short distance between them and pressing a kiss against his lips, lingering there for a long moment before pulling back. “Very sneaky.”

 

“If you’d showed up at the wrong place, none of this would have worked.”

 

“So I was brought here to Dalton,” Kurt continued, waving his hand airily as if dismissing the interruption in his story as he turned back to the camera. “I’ll admit I was suspicious considering it’s not like my dad’s doctor’s office is in Westerville, but he’d said there was a specialist he’d wanted to talk to, and that worked well enough as an explanation until we were getting close enough to here that it didn’t make sense for us to be going anywhere else.”

 

“That was kind of the biggest flaw in the plan, in terms of the element of surprise.”

 

“I’d say you made up for it plenty well enough with the rest of it,” Kurt replied with a small shake of his head, his gaze flickering over to meet Blaine’s for a long moment, silence hanging around them until Blaine leaned in to brush a light kiss against his lips before leaning back, and Kurt cleared his throat so he could continue on. “Anyway, yes. We got to Dalton and my dad wouldn’t tell me what was going on beyond that we needed to get out to go see something.”

 

“Nothing he told you was a lie,” Blaine said, glancing over to the camera with a slightly apologetic expression before looking back to Kurt. “I didn’t want to ask him to lie to you about anything. He came up with the appointment excuse, but that was why he made up the specialist and didn’t say it was for his actual doctor… because I’m special, to you…” He grinned softly and tilted his head to press a soft kiss against the corner of Kurt’s mouth. “…and you did have to get out to see something once you were here.”

 

“Well he conveniently left out that the _something_ we were going to see was some mega chorus of a bunch of choirs I competed against over the past few years doing an arranged and choreographed performance of a song as rose petals fell from somewhere – which, I still haven’t figured out where they came from or how you got them up to wherever they were.”

 

Blaine just grinned even more at that, his chin dropping down toward his chest and head hanging for a moment before he looked back up to him with as innocent an expression as he could muster. “It’s a secret, and I can’t tell you because then you wouldn’t be nearly as impressed.”

 

“I would still be impressed,” Kurt replied quietly, his fingers curling where they were resting on Blaine’s shoulder, fingertips rubbing in against the fabric of his jacket. “Because the best part of it, beyond the choirs and petals and all of that, was when I got to that door and it opened and you were there.”

 

Kurt brought his hand up from where it had been resting on his lap, using it to cup Blaine’s jaw lightly as he dipped his head down and pressed a kiss against his lips. It lasted longer than any of the other kisses that had passed between them since they’d sat down, and it wasn’t just a soft lingering kiss, it looked more like a firm reassuring one, like a reminder that what was happening was actually real and that they were both there in that moment sharing it. His thumb brushed lightly against the apple of Blaine’s cheek when he actually did manage to pull back, resting their foreheads together instead of shifting back entirely.

 

“Do you think I could have a minute?” Kurt asked quietly, and Blaine’s eyes fluttered open, eyelashes thick as he looked through them to see him before he gave a slow nod, quickly kissing him again before sitting back. “I just need a minute or two, and then we can go off to whatever elaborate celebration you have planned.”

 

“You know me so well,” Blaine replied with an adoring smile as he shifted up out of his seat, standing and putting himself out of frame of the camera except for his torso and chest, and his hands as he reached over to smooth down the lapel of Kurt’s jacket. “I’ll just be waiting down the hall. I have a few loose ends I should get tied up anyway.”

 

“Okay, I’ll be out in a few,” Kurt said, nodding as he looked up at him. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”  Blaine leaned down to kiss him again, his fingers curled around the lapel he’d been smoothing, and then he pulled back to stand up straight and skirt past him, closing the door to the room with a soft click of the latch as he left.

 

Kurt shifted to sit closer to the middle, moving more securely onto the chair they'd been sharing and letting his hands rest on top of his legs, his gaze focused down on them as he sat in silence for a long moment. He didn't move beyond that, sitting still like a statue, other than the movement of his chest as he breathed, a calm and slow inhale and exhale of breath as he stared down at his hands and lost himself in thought for what seemed like an eternity.

 

"I remember the first time I thought you were proposing to me," he said quietly, his voice seeming to resonate around the room even with the way he was speaking softly, such a contrast to the silence that had been. "I said yes before you'd even said a word, and I was wrong, of course, but that didn't change my answer at all."

 

His gaze slowly moved up from his hands to look into the camera, his cheeks lightly flushed and his eyes looking teary but sparkling all the same as he sat up a little straighter, his back pressing against the chair. For as elated and blissful as he'd looked when Blaine had been sitting next to him, it was a whole different range of emotion playing across his features once he was on his own. Yes, the happiness was still there, bold as ever and probably the easiest thing to take away from his expression, but there was so much more. Right up there with how happy he was had to have been the way he looked almost relieved, his body relaxed even with the posture he had and the way his jacket made his shoulders seem drawn back straight.

 

"I have that first ring you gave me," Kurt went on, and he drew his hands up to his chest, resting his right over his left and letting his thumb rub idly at the metal band that was wrapped around his ring finger. "It was the one thing in New York that I had that I knew would always be able to make me feel like you were right there if I needed it, and all I had to do was get that little ring box out from where I kept it in the top drawer of my dresser and open it and I could feel that moment all over again, when you'd given it to me for Christmas and I knew when I'd said yes that I'd meant it even without you meaning to ask.

 

"It didn't matter what happened, because the whole world could have been crashing down around me and all I would have had to do was look at that ring and I would know I was going to be fine. It even worked when things weren't good between us, when it felt like everything was crashing down, and I didn't want to see it but nothing ever made me feel so certain or sure that something would work out as much as it did when I was sitting there looking at that gum wrapper bow tie promise ring."

 

There was another pause as Kurt let his gaze drop down again, his hands moving out from his chest so he could look at the ring on his finger, his thumb tracing over it for a moment longer before that hand dropped away to give him an unobstructed view.

 

"This is beautiful," he murmured, his eyes lingering on it before shifting to look at the camera. "It's perfect, Blaine, which I'm sure you knew because you got it and I don't think you'd ever get something unless it was perfect. As nice as it is, I don't think any ring in the world could ever beat that first one you gave me, which I hope doesn't make you regret getting this when you'd already kind of set the standard back a year and a half ago with your gum wrappers. That ring had a lot of promises, and this one does too, but today when those doors opened and I saw you there, all I could think about was what you'd said back when you'd given it to me."

 

A soft smile spread across his features and Kurt brought his hand in to rest over his chest again as he drew in a breath, exhaling it out slowly a moment later. "To surprise me – that's one of the things you promised, and you've always been so good at following through with it but I didn't expect you to be this good. This... this was the surprise to outdo all others, and I'm not just saying that because it ended with a ring on my finger, but just everything about it..."

 

Clearing his throat softly, Kurt shook his head and let the corners of his mouth turn up even more, his gaze staying fixed on the camera as he sat quietly before beginning to speak again. "Future-Blaine, I don't know what you'll have managed to pull off over the years, because I think the Blaine I have right now is already so good at taking the cake with all these things. All I know is that future-Kurt is one very, very lucky guy to have you in his life, because I can only imagine that you're going to get better with age – a feat that doesn't seem fair to the rest of the people in the world, considering how well you're already starting out.

 

"Today is definitely one of those days that deserves to go on the list of most important days in Kurt Hummel's life," he continued, his thumb rubbing against the fabric of his shirt lightly before his hand shifted down into his lap. "It's pretty incredible how two of the biggest ones happened right here at this school. I couldn't imagine a more fitting place for you to propose, Blaine, because this is the place where we fell in love – which I'm sure is exactly why you chose it. This is where we met, and this is where we decided to spend the rest of our lives together, and it will always be that much more special to me because of it."

 

Kurt shifted forward in the chair, sitting more toward the edge of it as he smiled to himself. "That speech you gave me with the gum wrapper ring, I didn't think there would ever be anything else that could top it, but I should have known better. You have this wonderful way of saying things that makes me feel safe, and warm, and loved beyond anything else in the world, and that's what all those promises did then – even if they weren't being said because you were proposing to me." He paused, biting his lip lightly for a moment before letting it slip from between his teeth. "All I know is that this time, I'm really glad I waited to say yes until after you'd said everything, and such beautiful things that managed to top anything you'd said before, and actually asked the question I was trying to answer.

 

"Now, if you'll excuse me," he went on, a playful little smirk twisting up the corners of his mouth as he reached forward, his arm stretched out so he could get to the button on the camera to stop the recording as soon as he'd said the last part of what he'd started, "I have to go celebrate with my fiancé."


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, future selves..."

 

The camera focused in on Kurt as he moved his arm away from his body, clearly just holding onto it rather than set it on anything as he shifted how he was holding it to keep his head from being chopped out of the frame, though before he did it gave a nice glimpse of the jacket he was wearing, a bird brooch secured against his lapel. He was smiling softly, in a natural way like it was just the default expression on his face as his gaze flickered briefly around before settling on the lens again as he spoke.

 

"Today is a very important day because today is the day that you, Blaine, are graduating from William McKinley High!" Kurt's smile brightened as he spoke and he gave a nod as the final punctuation. "I know that you've been looking forward to it for a while, because it means getting to go off and do bigger and better things – I mean, there's a reason that the moving truck is already packed and waiting to go. New York is waiting! Not just New York, but NYADA and Broadway and all the places you're going to go and do and succeed.

 

"That's why today is so important, because it's like the beginning of a new chapter," he continued, shifting a little in how he was sitting and jostling the camera, giving an unintentional view of his surroundings – but it wasn't much, just the wall behind him. "You're going to walk across that stage, get your diploma, and that moment is like turning the page of a book to move on to the next part. I know it's a stage you've been on countless times, and all you're being handed is a piece of paper in a fancy looking holder, but that's not the point."

 

Kurt drew in a breath, giving a small shake of his head and exhaling as his eyes moved to focus on the camera in front of him again. There was determination behind his eyes, like he knew what he was going to say but it was a matter of making sure it was going to come out right – and he wasn't going to say it until he found the right words. That was why there was such a silence that lingered, nothing but him staring straight ahead into the lens and his jaw occasionally clenching absently, not out of anything negative but rather just as he sorted through his thoughts.

 

"When I graduated last year, there was this huge relief of _finally_ ," Kurt began, his free hand moving up to smooth down the tie he was wearing. "All I had wanted was to be done with this school, all the problems I'd gone through while I was here – though there were far less of them in the later years, thank you, for giving me that. I knew I wasn't going anywhere like I'd always planned, at least not right away, because the whole NYADA thing hadn't worked out and there hadn't been a backup plan, but the point was that I wasn't _trapped_ in this place where I didn't have the ability to go if I wanted to, because I was old enough and had graduated and it was like getting my diploma opened all these doors I'd just been waiting to unlock.

 

"It sounds so silly because even if you didn't go to graduation you would still have graduated, and you would get your diploma in the mail or go pick it up from school with no pomp or circumstance, but there's something about that moment of walking across the stage and having it handed to you, the rush from how _official_ it all is. That feeling isn't something you would be able to get from receiving the same piece of paper in the mail, or picking it up from the office some day during the summer. There's a sense of closure, like with that one simple action of moving your tassel from one side to the other of your mortarboard, it's closing the door on that part of your life – and throwing it up into the air is turning the lock."

 

There was another pause as Kurt tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly as if he was thinking over what he'd said and if it got across what he'd been going for. "That's not to say," he continued, starting out slowly and carefully, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, "that you can't open it again. There are great things that happened here, but it's important not to dwell, it's good to move forward. I know I'm only a year out, and I would never dream of forgetting the good things that happened here at McKinley – and especially not the ones that happened at Dalton – but it's still about moving forward. Those will always be a part of you."

 

A soft smile spread across Kurt's features as he glanced down away from the camera, staring at something down toward his knee for a long moment before looking up again. He didn't speak right away, just looked into the lens, taking in and releasing a few long breaths.

 

"I am _so_ proud of you, Blaine," Kurt said, his expression as soft as his tone. "You've done so much, and been so much, and you're about to do even more and be even more, just in a bigger place. You came to this school for me, which is something I'll never get over because having you here with me was what made my senior year as wonderful as it was, but you didn't leave once I did. You made this school as much yours as Dalton had been, and I know it definitely wasn't always easy but you just _flourished_ here, and I think that's probably because you could flourish anywhere in the world, but for the past couple of years you did it here and this isn't exactly the easiest place to do that."

 

Kurt turned the camera around slowly, letting it sweep around the room he was sitting in – the choir room. It looked just as it always had, piano in the middle of the floor, chairs in neat rows in front of him because he was sitting in the back row up against the wall, trophy case over against one of the far walls, and then the ever-present white board up in the front of the room. There was a message written on it in what was clearly Mr. Schuester's handwriting, as there always was, large bold letters spelling out 'CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2013' and then beneath it, in slightly smaller but still clearly visible writing, an addendum of 'ESPECIALLY BLAINE ♥' in Kurt's handwriting instead.

 

"This room is where most of my good memories of this school are," he started, the camera still turned to take in the room for a few seconds before he turned it around to himself again, taking a moment to get it lined up right again so he could be seen. "And I know so many of yours are as well. I think I could easily get rid of most of the rest of this building as long as this room was still here. I hope you guys, future-selves, remember all the things that happened here. There was drama and sadness, but more than that there was happiness, friendship, and love, and I think those are what the lasting memories should be even once we're all done and graduated and there are new students in here who don't know any of us anymore – though you damn well better believe they'll know our names because without us, there would be no New Directions."

 

With a soft laugh, Kurt shook his head and let his chin tuck down for a brief moment, biting his lip as he looked back up to the camera. "Anyway, I should probably go get a seat for the ceremony. I know my dad said he was going to get us good ones but there's always the chance that someone pulled him away to talk to him and all the good seats are being taken. I want to have the best seat to watch you walk across that stage and get your diploma, Blaine Anderson. You're going to look so cute in your cap and gown and I want the most unobstructed view of that possible.”

 

There was another pause before Kurt spoke again, and when he did his voice was quiet, not quite a whisper but not a whole lot louder than one. “I got you something, not necessarily _for_ graduation but it seemed like as good a time as any to give it to you – and it’s not like I would have had a chance before, since I haven’t been in Ohio since you proposed.” He shifted in his seat to get into his pocket, straightening up seconds later and holding up his hand, a small box held nimbly in his fingers. “I started looking as soon as I was back in New York, because it didn’t seem right for me to have a ring and you to not. I really hope you like it – as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one. Just like the first time I saw you.”

 

Kurt looked at the ring box as he turned it over in his fingers, thumb rubbing against the top of it and letting it push the top of it open just enough that it would snap shut as soon as he let it go, the sound breaking through the silence and seeming to echo around the room as he lowered his hand down to his lap and let his gaze move back to the camera.

 

"You are the most incredible person, and I know you're going to do so many wonderful things with your life. Future-Blaine, I hope you're not too worn out from being so amazing over all the years. Today is just a step in all that – the last step away from McKinley and the first one toward the future. I'm so proud of you, and so glad I'll be right there by your side for all of it, for the steps you're taking today and the ones you'll take in the future. I love you, Blaine."

 

With a final smile, Kurt blew a kiss to the camera and ended the recording.  

 

 

––––––––––––

 

It was like the camera had been turned on in the midst of an earthquake from how much it was jostling around, but after a lot of fumbling and unfocused blurs, it was turned around to face Blaine and after a few seconds he was in focus, a smile on his face that was most certainly reaching his eyes, even if they were being blocked by sunglasses so there was no way to see for sure.

 

"I meant to do this already, but things have been busy and I got distracted and I hadn't even realized I had this in my bag until the last time we stopped for gas," he started, his nose scrunching as an apologetic look passed over his face, and he let out a sigh. "But here we are! Today is important, and do you know why?"

 

"I think I do."

 

Kurt's voice came from out of frame, and Blaine's head turned to the side presumably to look at him, a grin turning up the corners of his mouth for a moment before he leaned over and kissed his cheek with an exaggerated smacking sound as he dropped back against his seat with a laugh. The camera got bumped around a lot more in the process, and Blaine brought his other hand up so he could use both to steady it as he looked intently into it as if to make sure that it was still working well enough.

 

"Maybe you'd like to tell why, then," Blaine said, turning the camera so it was facing over toward Kurt, who spared a glance its way but then looked straight back ahead, one of his arms extended out to the steering wheel and the other resting against the armrest on the door beside him. He looked relaxed, not nearly as covered in layers of clothes as he normally was, but more casual and dressed for comfort. Blaine was, too, wearing simple clothes for him that looked like they were made to keep him comfortable while they were in the vehicle.

 

"It's important because we're driving to New York," Kurt replied, tilting his head to look over to the camera again, a smile spreading across his face before he turned his attention back to the road.

 

"Yes, we are driving to New York. And what are we driving?"

 

"A moving truck," Kurt answered, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and letting his head rest back against the seat. "A moving truck that has busted air conditioning and doesn't seem to like to get up to speed unless we're going down a big hill."

 

"So it's not the best truck in the world," Blaine conceded as he let the camera turn back to himself, his mouth still turned up in a grin as he gave a shrug of his shoulders. "That doesn't stop it from being great, though, because it's getting us there and it has my stuff in it and once we're there, we're moving it into the apartment."

 

"Our apartment," Kurt added in, and Blaine looked over at him again, biting his lip lightly as his grin grew that much more.

 

There was some road noise in the background – the engine of the truck clearly working hard as they drove along the highway taking them from the midwest to the east coast, plus the radio was on but with the volume turned down to just a soft buzzing hum in the background, and the bumps in the road jostling them and everything else as they went along, but none of that really seemed to factor in the least bit when Blaine was looking at Kurt like that. It was like he wasn't quite able to stop, either, because it lasted for many long seconds before he looked back to the camera, and then another few before he spoke.

 

"Yes, _our_ apartment." He let out a sigh and smiled, his shoulders relaxing back against the seat with the exhale of breath. "It's been a whirlwind few days and it'll be so nice to be in the city at our apartment – _ours_ – and start everything there."

 

"What did you do yesterday?" Kurt prompted, reaching over with a hand and nudging Blaine's shoulder, his fingers lingering on it for a moment before he pulled his hand back over to his side of the truck, disappearing from where the camera could see.

 

"I graduated," Blaine answered, his gaze flickering over that way before he looked back to the camera again. "It was a great day. It was bittersweet, because I made so many wonderful friends there and a bunch of us were all graduating together but then there were the underclassmen who weren't, so knowing that I wasn't going to be seeing them all the time anymore was sad. It's not like we don't have ways to stay in touch or anything, but it won't be the same as it was. It never is, though." He gave a little shake of his head before his expression brightened again. "But the ceremony was great! All the speeches were incredible, and it felt so good to walk across that stage and get my diploma.

 

"But then," he went on, his tone lowering slightly as he switched to the next part of the story, "I had dinner with my family and that was nice. It was a congratulations dinner and a farewell dinner, since I was leaving today and that was our last chance. The _best_ part was dessert, because my _fiancé_ and I–" he turned the camera to get Kurt again, "–went out to Breadstix just like old times and had some of their cheesecake." Blaine brought the camera back to himself and smiled, his eyes sparkling. "And Kurt, the amazing and wonderful love of my life, gave me this."

 

His left hand moved into the frame and he wiggled his fingers. The sunlight caught and gleamed off the metal on his ring finger, shining into the lens. Blaine drew his hand in closer so it wasn't catching the light as much and so the camera could actually focus in on it. The ring itself looked vintage, well-loved and worn even though it was new, and it fit snug on Blaine's finger as if it had been made specifically for him and never anyone else.

 

"It was a very nice surprise," he said quietly, shifting the camera back out and looking into it with a soft smile.

 

"You're not the only one with surprises," Kurt chimed in from the driver's seat, making Blaine's spread across his features further and a light laugh come tripping off his tongue.

 

"I guess I'm not,' he agreed, biting his lip and glancing over to Kurt before letting his eyes flicker back to the camera again. "Anyway, that's what we're up to. We're going to make it to New York, to our apartment, in this U-Haul truck, even though the air conditioning hates us and the truck itself is determined to keep us from getting there any faster."

 

Blaine offered one last smile to the camera before turning it around, facing it toward the windshield and letting it focus in on the road in front of them as they drove along. "Not much further to go, and we'll finally be home..."

 

 

––––––––––––

 

“This is it…” Kurt voice came from behind the camera as the image panned around the main room of an apartment, filled with boxes that hadn’t been unpacked and furniture that had yet to be arranged. “Home sweet home.”

 

Once he’d taken in the entire room, he turned the camera around to face himself. He looked tired, exhausted, but still managed to have a smile on his face as he sunk down into his chair and sighed. His free hand came up to run through his hair, which was still swept up away from his forehead but not nearly as high as it usually was, clearly deflated from all the work and heat from the day.

 

“It has been… a long, _long_ day,” he said, speaking quietly and breathing out a soft sigh. “Traffic was hell, and that was even just getting the truck to the apartment to unload all of Blaine’s things, and then we had to go to Bushwick to the loft to get all of mine, load it into the truck and unload it here, and we had a _little_ help but it’s not like we actually expected Rachel and Santana to be much help even though we knew they would be here. I mean really, can you imagine Santana helping carry a couch up a couple flights of stairs?” He gave the camera a look. “I didn’t think so.”

 

Kurt stayed quiet for a moment, his head tilting back against the headrest of the chair. He may have looked tired, but that didn’t stop his eyes from glimmering in the dimmed lighting of the room as he glanced over away from the camera.

 

“Blaine’s asleep,” he went on, slowly looking back into the lens. “He took a shower to get cleaned off after the drive and all the moving and physical labor that happened today, and I was working on getting the kitchen unpacked enough so that we could eat off of actual plates tomorrow instead of having to get take out just because we didn’t have any other options, but by the time I realized the water had turned off and went to see where he was, he was sprawled out on the bed and just _out_.”

 

A gentle, loving smile spread across his features as he shook his head. “I’m about to do the same, because I can’t think of anything better than getting cleaned off and then sleeping until I wake up naturally – because tomorrow we have to work on unpacking and after everything that happened today, we both deserve good sleep. I just know that we wanted to have something to show that we’d made it and moved in and were _here_.

 

“So tomorrow, we’re going to sleep until we can’t any more, and then get up and scour this neighborhood for the perfect coffee shop to make ours – which shouldn’t be too difficult since we’ve both been researching it since we found the apartment, and then work on unpacking this place and making it less filled with boxes and more filled with us. I loved the loft, but this is already so much better because it’s just ours, and I know that I’m going to fall asleep next to you tonight and wake up with you right there beside me tomorrow.”

 

Kurt stifled a yawn behind his hand and shook his head, his nose scrunching slightly from the yawn before he let his hand drop down to his lap. “So this is it – first night in our apartment, first night living together as _fiancés_ , and considering you’re already in bed, I guess I should go get cleaned up so I can join you. Good night, future-selves, I have a current-Blaine I need to cuddle.”


	4. Chapter 4

 

It was dark when the camera turned on, and it took a few seconds before any light was turned on, but then it was and it revealed a sleep rumpled Blaine. His hair was curly and unkempt, sticking out at all odd angles, and he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed in the t-shirt he was wearing. The lamp beside him was the only thing illuminated him and the room he was in, and he bit his lip, glancing over away from the camera for a long moment before looking back to it.

 

"Hi," he whispered, his eyes sparkling in the light, and it was clear that despite looking every bit like he'd just gotten out of bed, he was very much awake and had been for at least a little bit, his voice clear and not thick with sleep like it might have been otherwise. "I just couldn't sleep anymore, so I had to get up, but I didn't want to wake up Kurt – at least not yet."

 

His gaze shifted over to the side again, as if he was making sure he hadn't accidentally made Kurt wake up by speaking, or by turning the light on. He clearly wasn't in the same room as him, since he was sitting curled up in Kurt's chair in the living room, but he had a straight line of sight to the door to their bedroom, at least.

 

"I know that today is going to be filmed from beginning to end by someone else," he went on as his eyes moved back to meet the camera, his voice still low and close to a whisper, but not quiet enough to where he wouldn't be heard. "I still wanted to do this, though, because it deserves it. _We_ deserve it. We've finally gotten to this day and I feel like I'm going to burst because I'm just so excited for it. That's why I'm awake, I guess, because my mind wouldn't shut off and I had to get up."

 

Blaine drew in a breath, held it for a few seconds, and then exhaled slowly. "I can't believe that today came. We've been planning it for months, over a year, and marking off each day on the countdown calendar that we made, and then last night when we crossed off that final day and all that was left was the last little box on the calendar, with its stars and hearts and... lightening bolts drawn on it so we couldn't miss it for the world if we tried..." He trailed off in a quiet laugh, shaking his head and biting his lip as he grinned and looked down. "Today is _here_ , Kurt."

 

Slowly, Blaine looked back up to the camera, his eyes staring straight into the lens with such determination behind them and the corners of his mouth turning up with a smile. "We're getting _married_."

 

Blaine leaned back in the chair and huffed out another laugh, not quite as quiet as the first but still soft enough to be contained to the room he was in. His free hand came up to run through his hair, pushing the curls away from his forehead and tangling back into the rest, fingers lingering there in them for a long moment before he let them slip free and his hand dropped down beside him again. There was silence, quiet in the mostly dark room, as he looked up to the ceiling and sat with his head leaning back against the chair, the smile not fading from his face.

 

"Today's here, and today's the day I get to marry you, and I can't even think about anything else because what else is there?"

 

It was another few seconds before Blaine tilted his chin down so he could look at the camera again, biting lightly at his lower lip and not even trying to fight off the full fledged grin that was taking over his features. There was nothing but pure joy there in his expression, and the way the light hit his eyes made it seem like the sparkles in them were dancing, only adding to it all. He sat there in the quiet, not saying anything as he let his gaze drop down again, looking at something out of frame that made his grin widen even more.

 

"It's just about time that the alarm is set to go off," he murmured, as if more to himself than the camera. "I've been up for a while, but I didn't want to bother Kurt since he was sleeping still. The coffeemaker started up just before I sat down to do this, and it'll be done brewing by the time the alarm goes, but... I think Kurt deserves a better wake-up call than that blaring thing." His eyes flickered up to meet the camera, a mischievousness behind his eyes. "So let's go wake him up."

 

Blaine shifted up out of the chair, taking the camera with him as he stretched his legs, and then getting a good few seconds footage of the ceiling and the surround area as he stretched his arms. There weren't any other lights on in the apartment, and everything went dark as he moved over toward their room and through the doorway to get into it. His footsteps were audible, though he was clearly trying to keep them as quiet as he could, and the next thing to come into focus was the time on the clock as he reached down to turn off the alarm. He turned on the bedside lamp on his side, getting enough light in the room so the camera wasn't pointless, but not enough to wake up Kurt with how his head was turned the other way.

 

"Kurt..." he murmured, pressing a kiss against his cheek and gaining a mumbled nonsensical reply. Blaine chuckled softly, and then peppered kisses along his cheek, jaw, temple, wherever he could reach, slowly pulling him into consciousness. "Kurt, wake up..."

 

"Mmmkay," Kurt mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. "M'wake."

 

"Guess what?"

 

"Hm?"

 

"We're getting married today."

 

If anything seemed to wake Kurt up, it was that, because there was a moment's pause and then he rolled over, reaching up and swiftly pulling Blaine down onto the bed with a startled yelp that quickly descended into laughter. The camera got dropped in the midst of it, tumbling onto the bed and landing pointed toward them all the same, managing to capture little glimpses of them beyond the comforter and how it was bundled up close to where it had landed. Blaine stretched out comfortably over Kurt, pressing a firm kiss against his mouth and then to the corner of it, dotting kisses back his jaw as Kurt's arms circled around him securely, one of his hands sliding up the back of his neck and into his hair.

 

"You're so much better than an alarm clock," Kurt murmured, hugging Blaine down onto him with an 'oof' and nuzzling in against his neck. "Love you so much."

 

"Love you, too," Blaine replied, nestling down onto him and staying like that for a long moment before lifting up quickly. "Oh, oops..."

 

"Oops? What oops?"

 

"This oops," Blaine said with a laugh, reaching over and feeling around in the covers for the camera, pulling it over and aiming it down to Kurt, who immediately covered his face with his hand and whined in protest.

 

"I'm barely awake! I probably look awful."

 

"You look gorgeous," Blaine soothed, leaning down and pressing a kiss against his cheek, where he could get to it beside Kurt's hand. "I love seeing you in the mornings like this, all relaxed and peaceful and sleepy. It's one of my favorite things every day, and especially today, and I bet you anything that future-Blaine still loves getting to see future-Kurt like this _every_ day because they are married because that's what we're doing today. Getting married."

 

Kurt's hand slowly lowered from his face and he looked up at the camera, his smile coming into view as his fingers shifted down from over it, and he gave a little shake of his head. "I love you."

 

"I love you, too," Blaine replied, laughing softly from behind the camera. "Prepare to love me even more, because there's coffee..."

 

“You made coffee?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

Kurt reached up and took the camera in his hands, looking straight into it and biting his lip for a second before clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, I need to turn this off because I need to do things to my soon-to-be-husband that probably shouldn’t be featured on film… yet. Goodbye!"

 

––––––––––––

 

There was no real sound when the camera came on, just the hum of background noise and a view of the ground at first before it got turned around, aiming straight up at Santana’s face as she squinted down as if she was trying to figure out if it was working. Once she was certain, she lifted it up from her lap and turned it away from herself, pointing it down the aisle and to where Kurt and Blaine were standing at the end of it.

 

The camera couldn’t pick up the sound, at least not as well as it could have if she was closer, and all it got was the quiet murmur that someone was talking, though not the words they were saying. That didn’t matter as much, considering it clearly focused in on the two of them standing there in perfectly tailored and fitted tuxedos, boutonnieres pinned to the lapels, hands held between them as they looked at each other unwaveringly as the officiant spoke.  

 

It was a beautiful setting, somewhere in a park with enough trees to provide shade but not too many to keep the sunlight from streaming through and brightening the ceremony. The camera panned out enough to capture all of them, from head to toe, catching how Blaine rocked up onto the balls of his feet at one point and how Kurt’s fingers would tighten in Blaine’s hands every so often.

 

Despite the lack of sound, it was easy to tell when they got to the vows because there wasn’t a dry eye in the congregation gathered – or with the grooms themselves. There was enough sniffling to be caught by the camera, and a few choice words muttered by Santana about how she was going to kill them both for making her ruin her makeup with their sappiness, but it was obvious that the threat was said with no actual intent behind it, rather a lot of love. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been holding the camera, after all.

 

By the time the end of the ceremony came, the camera had gotten zoomed in closer to them, capturing from the waist up and focusing in on the way they were smiling at each other, love struck and elated, thrumming with excitement that this was something that was actually happening. Rings and vows had been exchanged in a ceremony that was tailored specifically to them, and throughout the whole thing they hadn’t lost contact between their hands for any amount of time, keeping that touch more than anything else.

 

A whoop came from the crowd when they kissed, soon followed by whistles and cheers. It’s not like anyone could blame the people congregated for responding that way, not with how both Blaine and Kurt had surged forward to meet in the middle, a searing kiss passing between them as their arms wrapped around each other in a way that seemed more familiar than anything else – Kurt’s arms circling around Blaine’s shoulders and Blaine’s sliding around Kurt’s waist, holding each other in close and staying locked together more than what was probably considered a normal length of time.

 

“You guys are ridiculous,” Santana said, her voice picking up on the camera as Kurt and Blaine broke apart, keeping the focus on them until they walked their way past her with their hands clasped together, and she turned the camera to follow them down the aisle before aiming it up at herself again. “ _Ridiculous_ – but I love you both and know you’re going be ridiculous together for a long, long time to come,” she added, rolling her eyes. “And you’d better have an open bar at the reception or I’ll turn on this camera again and say less nice things about you.”

 

––––––––––––

 

“Kurt, what are you doing?”

 

There was a brief moment of fumbling with the camera when it was turned on again, a sweeping view of the inside of a car happening before it got turned the right way and Kurt came into focus, still wearing the tuxedo he’d been sporting at the ceremony, though it was not quite as done up as it had been before, the tie undone and loose around his neck and the top button of his shirt undone.

 

“We’re married – officially!” Kurt announced, grinning at the camera before turning it to where Blaine was beside him. He looked equal amounts of undone, his bow tie untied and hanging from either side of his collar, and a pleased but slightly tired smile spread across his features as he looked at the camera and raised his hand in a little wave.

 

“We are _so_ married,” Blaine replied, his smile easing into a grin. “Today was _perfect_. The weather was great, everyone who came was amazing, and then of course I got to marry the most amazing man in the entire world.”

 

“False,” Kurt broke in, shifting the camera view back over to himself. “Because _I_ got to marry the most amazing man in the entire world, so you definitely couldn’t have.”

 

“Oh my god,” Blaine groaned, and there was a fumbling of the camera between them before he managed to pull it from Kurt’s grasp and hold it on himself. “That is a _lie_ , and both future-Blaine _and_ future-Kurt know it. Right, guys? Right.”

 

“They can’t agree with you, they’re in the _future_ ,” Kurt protested, giving a nudge to Blaine’s shoulder that made them both dissolve into laughter for a long few moments before they composed themselves.

 

“Whatever, you know what I mean,” Blaine said, clearing his throat a little and refocusing his gaze into the camera. “The point _is_ … we got married today. _Legally_.”

 

“I wish we could have done it in Ohio,” Kurt added, and Blaine turned the camera toward him, catching him as he shifted in his seat to be sitting more sideways and facing Blaine, leaning against the back of it. “It would have been nice, since we’re both actually from there, but…”

 

“It doesn’t matter where it happened because the point is that it did,” Blaine replied softly, reaching over and straightening Kurt’s lapel a little before letting his hand move down to slip into his. “We’re from Ohio, but we live in New York. Besides, everyone who we wanted to be there was there.”

 

“Right, it would have been a pain to switch everything over,” Kurt said, shaking his head and giving a light squeeze to Blaine’s hand. “Maybe if Ohio had passed their marriage laws _before_ we’d secured a venue and caterer…”

 

“They just _had_ to wait until we were past the point of no return,” Blaine lamented, making Kurt turn to look at him and scrunch up his nose. It was clear from his expression that the location of their wedding had been the topic of many conversations in the past however many months that they’d been planning and working on it, but considering they were far past the actual ceremony happening, it was all history.

 

Kurt leaned over, pressing a lingering kiss against Blaine’s cheek before making a soft smacking sound as he pulled back, resting his head against the seat again as he grinned. Blaine’s hand turned enough to catch both of their faces in the frame of the camera, the way the corners of his mouth turned up almost enough to rival Kurt’s, and they stayed like that in a long few seconds of silence before the car they were in came to an abrupt stop and they were both jolted slightly in their seats.

 

There was something said from the driver, though indiscernible by the camera, and they both automatically responded in some form of reassurance that they were fine and no harm had been done. Blaine shot a look into the camera and scrunched his nose before looking to Kurt again, shrugging his shoulders and offering a sigh.

 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Kurt said, starting again and clearing his throat as he gave a little nod. “Maybe one day we’ll renew our vows in Ohio, since we weren’t able to get married there.”

 

“That sounds perfect,” Blaine conceded, leaning over to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I think that would be a perfect way to bring it all full circle. It’ll take a lot to make it anywhere near as amazing as our actual wedding here in New York, though.”

 

“Somehow I think we’ll manage,” Kurt replied, a dryness to his tone that made Blaine chuckle and give a shake of his head. “Believe me, I’ve been planning my wedding since I was five years old – I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something for a vow renewal that will knock your socks right off, Blaine Anderson.”

 

“Excuse me,” Blaine said, looking intently at Kurt and blinking a few times. “You got that a little wrong.”

 

“Did I?”

 

“Yes, my amazingly efficient and well researched wedding planner of a husband,” Blaine replied, a soft smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he kept his gaze fixed on Kurt, the camera steady in his hand despite his apparent lack of acknowledgement of it. “You did.”

 

“Well I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve been waiting for this day since I was in kindergarten…”

 

“That wasn’t the part I mean, good sir. I believe you got my name wrong.”

 

“Oh, my apologies,” Kurt said, his voice smooth as a smile spread across his features.  “Well I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something for a vow renewal that will knock your socks right off, Blaine _Anderson-Hummel_.”

 

“I’m sure you will, Kurt Anderson-Hummel,” Blaine replied, smirking that much more as the name tripped off his tongue. “I’m sure you will.”

 

“I love you,” Kurt murmured, leaning over and pressing a lingering kiss against his lips, his eyes fluttering closed as he let their foreheads rest together once he’d pulled back slightly, barely breaking his lips away from Blaine’s. “So much.”

 

“It’s a good thing you married me, then,” Blaine said in a whisper, making Kurt smirk and slide his hand inside Blaine’s jacket to tickle his side, and he squirmed with a laugh in response. “I love you too, I love you too!”

 

“Good, I’m glad,” Kurt replied, giving him another kiss before looking over to the camera and reaching for it. “Until next time, this is the newly espoused Anderson-Hummels, bidding you adieu….”

 

The camera barely had a chance to be turned off before Blaine swiftly moved over to him, a glimpse of the deep kiss he pressed against Kurt’s lips getting captured in the final seconds before the screen went dark.

 


	5. Chapter 5

“No, I have a list of places…”

 

Kurt’s voice came from out of frame as the camera clicked on, a conversation from before carrying over onto the video. There was a pause as Blaine glanced over at him, only half visible himself as he gave a small nod and murmuring an acknowledgement of what he’d said before turning his gaze back to the camera and turning it slightly on the surface where it was resting so it would be centered on him.

 

“Hello,” he greeted quietly, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth as he pulled his hands back from adjusting the positioning and resting them in his lap. “Happy anniversary, futures selves. Today we celebrate our first year of wedded bliss…”

 

There was a huff of laughter from off to the side, and a grin broke out across Blaine’s features as he looked toward where it had come from, toward Kurt, leaning over and reaching to pull him into the frame next to Blaine.

 

“Something you wanted to add, Kurt?” Blaine asked, quirking an eyebrow as he kept his gaze fixed on his husband.

 

“It _has_ been ‘wedded bliss,’ I wasn’t trying to say it wasn’t, it was just the way you said it…”

 

“Well how else should it have been said? It’s a proclamation! If they still had town criers, we would have had them announce it.”

 

“I know we would have,” Kurt replied, leaning in and pressing a soft, lingering kiss against his lips. “Anyway…”

 

“Anyway,” Blaine repeated, giving a slow nod before turning his attention back to the camera. “It’s been a pretty amazing day so far and it’s not even noon.”

 

Kurt shifted beside him, moving in to sit closer and letting his arm drape around Blaine’s shoulders as he got situated. It looked automatic, the way Blaine leaned into his touch, head tilting against his shoulder as Kurt’s fingers moved up into his hair – which was gelled loosely, his curls tamed into soft looking waves, definitely easy enough for Kurt to play with but in a way that would let it stay styled all the same.

 

“We had pancakes as breakfast in bed,” Kurt began, and Blaine hummed in agreement before he tilted his head back slightly more to look up at Kurt.

 

“That wasn’t the first thing,” he said, corners of his mouth twitching with the hint of a smirk. “First you had _me_  for breakfast, and I had _you_  for breakfast, and _then_ we had pancakes in bed.”

 

“Yes, it was a very lovely way to start the day,” Kurt agreed with a smirk, his fingertips rubbing in against Blaine’s scalp. “Lazy morning of sex and pancakes.”

 

“For the record,” Blaine interjected softly, “You were way better than those pancakes.”

 

“Aw, thanks sweetie,” Kurt replied with a light laugh, dipping his head down and kissing the corner of his mouth, not pulling back before murmuring out the rest of his response, his lips moving against Blaine’s skin as he spoke. “So were you.”

 

“Mmm…” Blaine’s hand moved up to cup Kurt’s jaw, keeping him held there as he turned his chin to be able to press their lips together, kissing him slowly for a long few moments before pulling back with a soft sigh and letting his hand slide back down to his lap again. They sat there quietly, noses brushing against each other lightly, looking at each other for a couple seconds before Blaine cleared his throat and glanced over at the camera. “So…”

 

“So yes, today we’re celebrating our anniversary,” Kurt started again, his gaze following Blaine’s over to look into the lens. “The first of many.”

 

“We have some pretty good plans for today, too.” Blaine lifted his head from Kurt’s shoulder to sit up a little straighter, staying tucked in against his side all the same. His features seemed to brighten as he gave a nod, as though confirming what he’d just said. “We already had a perfect morning, and then are going to have a wonderfully romantic dinner tonight, but in the meantime…”

 

“We’ve been talking a lot recently about expanding our family,” Kurt began slowly, his thumb tracing back and forth against Blaine’s shoulder. “We’ve had more than enough time to settle into our apartment, we’ve been here for _years_ , after all, and now that we’re married it just seemed like the next logical step to take.”

 

“Today seemed like the perfect day to do it, too.” There was a soft grin pulling at the corners of Blaine’s mouth as he glanced down at his hands in his lap for a moment before looking back to the camera. “What better day than our anniversary? It _is_ something we’ve discussed a lot, especially recently, since we’ve had the time to recover from all the wedding planning and experience and getting to enjoy our first year together _married_. So today is it, it’s the day, and we’re going to do it.”

 

“That’s right,” Kurt said, giving a nod and kissing Blaine on the cheek. “Today’s the day…” he paused, letting his gaze linger on Blaine a moment longer before directing it toward the camera. “We’re going to get a kitten.”

 

––––––––––––

 

There was a good deal of background noise when the camera turned on, pointed at the floor and catching two pairs of shoes as they walked along a concrete floor, the sound of their footsteps echoing in amongst the rest of the sound being caught. It only took a few more steps before the camera got lifted up higher, and the row of windows they were walking by got caught on tape before it was turned around and pointed at Blaine.

 

“So we’re at the humane society and they have _so_ many adorable kittens and cats,” Blaine said, a grin spreading wide across his features. “We’d looked at their website before we came, and they had pictures and stories for some of them up, but there are so many more than there had been listed.”

 

“We walked through,” Kurt added, and Blaine turned the camera to catch him in frame as he spoke. “They had us go through and take a peek and write down a list of cats we might be interested in? So now we’re going to go sit in a little room and they’re bringing them to us one by one so we can meet them.”

 

“ _So_ many kittens.”

 

Blaine let the camera lower back down as they approached a door, getting some more footage of the floor as the volunteer let them into the little room and said they would be back in just a minute. It was a small room, with a basket of toys in the corner and two chairs on which they could sit while they waited, and Blaine managed to catch excited grins from both him and Kurt before the volunteer came back with a cat for them to meet.

 

“This is Penny,” she said, passing over what looked to be a fully grown tortoiseshell cat to Kurt before pulling the door shut as softly as she backed out of the room to give them a few minutes on their own with her.

 

“She’s so soft,” Kurt murmured, his hand running down the length of her back as she sat on his lap, sniffing softly at his shirt and then stretching up to reach his face, their noses touching together briefly before she sat back on her haunches and let him pet her. Blaine reached over and stroked his fingers down the fur of her back, giving a soft hum of agreement as he scratched lightly just above her tail.

 

“She’s pretty, too,” he commented, pulling his hand back as Penny hopped down from Kurt’s lap to the ground and rubbed up against his legs. It only took a few seconds of rubbing up against both of them before she laid down on the ground between their chairs and curled up on her side, clearly content just to be there.

 

Blaine leaned down to pet her again, his fingertips grazing against her side and smoothing down the fur against her belly that had gotten pushed the wrong way by his hand when he’d first  reached down. The camera shifted hands over to Kurt, and he zoomed in on Blaine’s hand against the mottled colors of the cat’s coat. For her part, Penny just laid there and let him pet her, seemingly not caring as he did, and she didn’t move much when Kurt moved over to get a toy mouse to try and get her to play – she just glanced at it for a moment before turning her attention away.

 

“Ready for your next meet and greet?” the volunteer asked when she came back, stooping down to gather Penny in her arms to take away.

 

“Yes, thank you,” Kurt replied, and she was gone in a second, letting the door close behind her as she went.

 

“She was pretty,” Blaine said, tilting his head and looking down at the floor where the cat had been before the volunteer had taken her away. “She was really… calm.”

 

“I was going to go with lazy, but calm is also a good word.”

 

Blaine’s gaze swept up from the ground, looking over where the camera to see Kurt, biting back a grin and giving a shake of his head. “Kurt…”

 

“She was sweet, but I don’t think she was right for us. Would you say that’s fair?”

 

“That’s fair,” Blaine conceded, his lips parting after a moment to start to say something else, but not getting the chance thanks to the door opening again.

 

“This is Oreo,” the volunteer introduced, holding out a tuxedo kitten and letting Blaine take it into his hands. “He’s a pretty frisky little guy, just a heads up.”

 

“Frisky,” Kurt repeated, zooming in the camera on the kitten in Blaine’s hands as the door swung closed again. “I already have _you_ , I don’t know if I can handle having a frisky kitten, too.”

 

“Ha ha ha,” Blaine replied drying, smirking over at him as he brought the kitten onto his lap, setting it down and watching as it immediately went to attack the buttons on his shirt. He laughed genuinely then, running a fingertip along the back of Oreo’s head and down the length of his spine, watching as the kitten spun around to pounce on his finger. “Oh wow, he _is_ frisky.”

 

“I’d say…” Kurt passed the camera over to Blaine so he could take the kitten, pulling him over onto his own lap and cupping him in his hands, holding him like that for a moment before letting him go and watching as he moved to attack his hand. He leaned down, retrieving the mouse from the floor where he’d dropped it once Penny hadn’t shown any interest, dangling it in front of Oreo’s face, making the kitten crouch down and wiggle his way up to a pounce, nearly toppling off Kurt’s lap in the process of trying to get the mouse.

 

“I love his little markings, though,” Blaine murmured, reaching over and pressing a finger against white of Oreo’s nose and rubbing his fingertip down the length of it and onto where it was white on his chest, earning a few bats at his finger from the kitten. “I’m not sure frisky is big enough of a word for this one, though. He’s… well, he’s a kitten, so I would expect him to be kind of like this, but…”

 

“But he makes you concerned for your safety?” Kurt prompted, raising an eyebrow as Blaine turned the camera up to him a little more. “Or maybe not _your_ safety, but the safety of everything you hold dear that you don’t want shredded to bits?”

 

As if on cue, Oreo pounced on Kurt’s leg and sunk his claws into his pants leg, his rubbing the side of his face against it before starting to try and bite. Kurt scrunched up his nose as he carefully extracted the claws from his pants, lifting the kitten up off his lap and setting him down on the floor, leaning down to dangle the toy mouse for him to play with until the volunteer came back to check and see how they were doing.

 

“A little too much on the frisky side, I think, but he’s _really_ adorable,” Blaine said as he reached down to pick up Oreo and pass him up to her. “Such a pretty cat.”

 

“I think…” she paused, pulling Oreo in close to her chest and letting her thumb rub over his head as she cocked her hip out to the side to keep the door held open. “I know you made a list when you walked through, but there was one you didn’t have on your list who I think you would like. Would you mind if I brought him in?”

 

“No, not at all,” Kurt replied, and Blaine shook his head to be in agreement with his husband. “We could probably sit here all day and you could bring us every cat in the entire place and we still wouldn’t mind.”

 

“Alright,” she said with a light laugh. “I don’t think it’ll come to that, but I’ll be back in a minute with him.”

 

That amount of time barely passed before she was opening the door again, her hands cupped close to her chest like they had been with Oreo but this time with a different kitten in them. Blaine’s eyebrows raised slightly, and he shifted up to the edge of his seat as he watched her come closer.

 

“This is Muskateer,” she started, her voice quiet as she stopped in front of them and crouched down slightly. “He was found upstate and the people who brought him back didn’t understand what was going on with him or how to take care of him, which is how he ended up here. He’s a special little guy – he’s deaf. He’s very playful, and probably one of the most affectionate cats we’ve had here in a while.”

 

“He’s so cute,” Blaine murmured, reaching over to rub at the top of the kitten’s head before she held him out for one of them to take. The camera shifted hands so Kurt could do the honors, pulling the striped ginger kitten over onto his lap and letting him sit there, his hands cupping around him to make sure he was steady and settled before they moved aside.

 

“I’ll give you a few minutes,” the volunteer said softly as she straightened back up and went out the door again, the click of it closing seeming to echo in the room.

 

“ _So_ cute,” Kurt repeated, rubbing his thumbs against the kitten’s sides as he watched him, and Blaine zoomed the camera in on how Muskateer was blinking so slowly, how it almost looked like he was smiling as Kurt scratched against the side of his neck. “Oh, he’s purring…”

 

“He _looooves_ you,” Blaine teased, drawing in a breath as the kitten rubbed his face against Kurt’s hand, nuzzling against it for a few seconds before flopping down on his lap and stretching his legs out as he got comfortable. “Oh, Kurt.”

 

“He _does_ love me,” Kurt said, looking down at Muskateer in awe as the kitten started to knead his paws against his leg, purring loud enough to be caught on the camera. “Blaine, he’s so sweet…”

 

“Do you think we need to get this kitten?” Blaine asked, and Kurt managed to tear his gaze away from the cat on his lap to look over at him. “Because I kind of do.”

 

“I think we do.” Kurt paused, his eyes moving down to look at the kitten again, his fingers curling around his side and moving as Muskateer drew in a deep breath and sighed so deeply. “I think something else, too.”

 

“And what’s that?”

 

“Muskateer is _not_ the right name for this kitten.”

 

––––––––––––

 

“Alright, here’s the deal,” Blaine started as he turned the camera on again, back at the apartment and changed into different clothes than he’d been wearing earlier. “We did what we set out to do, and we got the most incredible little kitten, and then we stopped by the pet store and bought—”

 

“Everything,” Kurt interjected, and Blaine turned around with the camera so he could get Kurt in frame where he was sitting in his chair in the living room. “We bought pretty much everything.”

 

“Well it wasn’t like we _couldn’t_ because everything was just so cute and probably something that he would like and isn’t it our job to spoil him?”

 

“And _that_ is why we came close to buying out the entire store,” Kurt replied, a grin spreading across his features as Blaine moved in closer. “He deserves it, though.”

 

“I’m sure he at least _thinks_ he does,” Blaine said, crouching down next to the chair and aiming the camera at the kitten curled up asleep in Kurt’s lap, using his tail as a pillow and his paws reaching out to touch where Kurt’s hand was resting on his leg. “And what did we decide this little guy’s name should be, Kurt?”

 

“Well,” Kurt began, and Blaine tilted the camera to get him, catching the light from the lamp streaming through his hair and looking like a sunbeam streaking down onto him. “He’s such a regal little guy…”

 

“Mhmm, go on.”

 

“…and he’s ginger, so…”

 

“So…”

 

“Well his _full_ name would be Henry Charles Albert David, but that seems like far too much to be shouting when he gets up on the counter or somehow gets into the closet and decides to make a home in my clothes—”

 

“Not to mention that he wouldn’t be able to hear you, anyway,” Blaine interjected, and Kurt rolled his eyes before giving him a look.

 

“Harry,” Kurt said, enunciating the syllables as though they needed the extra help. “Prince Harry, the misunderstood little kitten of the House of Windsor.”

 

Blaine chuckled, but reached over and rubbed his fingers under the kitten’s chin all the same, letting the camera move back down onto him as he let his head stay tilted back from how Blaine had been petting him, a breathy little sigh escaping before he stretched out all his legs and curled up again into a tight little ball on Kurt’s lap, his head tucked in under his arms.

 

“He’s pretty tuckered out, royal or not,” Blaine murmured, standing up slowly and letting the camera stay angled down on the kitten but also getting Kurt in frame. “It’s a good thing we got him that really soft looking kitty bed.”

 

“It really is,” Kurt agreed, biting his lip as a grin spread across his features. “So I think it might be a good time to introduce him to it so we can go get into our really soft looking people bed.”

 

“I like the way you think, Mr. Anderson-Hummel.”

 

“I thought you might,” Kurt said with a soft laugh, carefully picking up Harry as he moved to stand, getting to his feet slowly and holding the kitten in against his chest as he straightened up. “Hey Blaine?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Happy anniversary.”

 

Kurt leaned in to kiss him, cutting off the camera between them, and it was only a few seconds of darkness from being pressed in against Blaine’s stomach before it got switched off entirely.


	6. Chapter 6

Wherever Kurt was when he turned the camera on, it was dark – dark enough that it took a few seconds for it to focus on anything, and then when it did it was focused on his shoes, which were polished to perfection beneath the crisp cuff of the trousers he was wearing. There was plenty of noise in the background, but at least it sounded like there was a wall between where he was and where it was all happening. It took a few couple more seconds before a light turned on and the room brightened in the frame.

 

"Okay, so here we go," Kurt murmured as he turned the camera around and set it on a table or something to keep it level, his hands hovering out on either side to make sure it was going to stay put. He was leaning over to get it situated, and the camera focused in on his waist, the way the jacket he was wearing was fitted so perfectly and just had one button done, and how the tie underneath was placed just so, not even a millimeter out of place.

 

"I snuck off, and I'm sorry for that, but I needed a few minutes to be able to talk about what's going on because today has been so hectic leading up to now that we didn't have a chance," he continued as he seemed to believe that camera wasn't going to topple over, and he lowered himself down onto a chair to be able to look into the lens. His eyes were sparkling in a knowing way, and every other part of his appearance looked just as tailored and neatly done up as the rest of him had, like how his hair was swept up away from his face, and how the brooches – both of them – on his lapel barely looked like it had been added onto the jacket, as opposed to having been there all along. "Hello, future-self, and hello future-Blaine."

 

Kurt paused, glancing down at his hands as he folded them in his lap, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile that he couldn't seem to contain no matter how hard he might try. "Or should I say, hello future-Blaine, star of Broadway – which we don't have to wait until the future to know because it's happening right now, it's happening tonight." His gaze swept back up to meet the camera and he bit his lip, his smile spreading to the point that the corners of his eyes crinkled. "Tonight is the night you've been working toward for... well, a long time. Most recently this past year when you've been working that much harder because it's been right there on the horizon, but I know it's something you've dreamed about for much longer than that."

 

He cleared his throat softly but his smile didn't fade in the least, his gaze fixed evenly on the camera as his eyes sparkled in the light coming from above him. There was a louder sound from outside of where he was, which barely made him look away, but then he just sighed as he refocused on what he was doing.

 

"I love that I've gotten to go on this journey with you even though I decided against pursuing anything similar a while ago," he said, one of his hands coming up to straighten his tie even though it didn't need it. "It's one of my favorite things to get to watch you do something that you're so passionate about, and even when you would come home exhausted from rehearsals, you would still be excited enough to tell me all about everything even though we both knew you just wanted to go lie down and sleep for hours on end.

 

"The day of your audition you were so nervous, and immediately called me after going through all the different places you thought you could have done better, but I knew you'd done it perfectly. Then you had call backs, and it was the same, and then there you were – _the_ Sky Masterson for the revival of 'Guys and Dolls,' coming to _Broadway_ in the next season. We made the fanciest dinner to celebrate it, and stayed up late watching the 1955 Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando movie version, and never acknowledged that the 2009 Broadway revival had happened because it had done so poorly and there was no way any production with you in it would ever flop like that."

 

Kurt huffed out a laugh, giving a small shake of his head as he finished that thought. "I've seen the show already, in previews, but that doesn't make tonight any less special. Tonight is _so_ special. This is your Broadway debut, and just the first of so many shows, I know it. Every time I see you up on that stage, it feels like my heart is going to burst from how proud I am. Even when I came to bring you lunch that one time and you were just sitting there in normal clothes on the edge of the stage talking to someone, I still felt that same feeling, that pride in the fact that you're doing _so_ wonderfully and soon everyone out there is going to see what I get to see every day, what I've gotten to see for so many years.

 

"Though let's be fair..." He paused, biting his lip with a grin, his head tilting slightly as he looked into the camera. "I think I sound _way_ better singing with you than your Sarah Brown ever will – and I'm not trying to be arrogant with that because she is _amazing_ , I'm just saying that our version of 'I'll Know' is hands down the best one out there and that's one of the other parts of getting to experience this with you that I've loved, that I got to help you run lines and practice songs. I don't miss that kind of thing because I love what I do, I _truly_ love what I do, but I will never turn down the chance to get to do all that with you."

 

There were a few seconds of silence, other than the muffled noise in the background, as Kurt reached forward and ran his fingertips along the edge of the table. His features relaxed as he traced back and forth, his mind clearly still focused on what he was doing but the rest of him taking a moment to take in what was going on. He worried his lower lip between his teeth as he pulled his hand back onto his lap, his gaze shifting from where he'd been looking at the table to meet the camera again.

 

"I know I should get back out there, even though I know you're just fine out there with all your cast mates, but I did kind of abandon you with the press and everyone else," he said softly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth again. "You're out there rubbing elbows with all these amazing Broadway directors, actors, choreographers, all these people who came to see your show, came to see _you_ , and I'm hiding off in one of the offices of your theatre. I would say that makes me sound like a horrible husband, but I'd like to think I'm making up for it with _what_ I'm doing."

 

Reaching forward again, Kurt picked up the camera as he got to his feet, and the view jostled around as he moved through the office and turned off the light as he went through the door to get out of it. Wherever the office was, it definitely wasn't far from where all of the pandemonium was happening with the opening night festivities, because it only took him walking down a hallway and around a few corners before the sound of chatter and people talking got louder and closer, no longer the muffled background noise it had been before.

 

"There." He lifted up the camera pointing away from him, panning it over the lobby of the theatre where everyone standing around was dressed so properly and fancy, the cast mingling with everyone else there and giving interviews with the various press outlets who were standing around with camera and microphones, just waiting to be able to ask questions. Once he'd gotten the entire scene, Kurt zoomed in to where Blaine was standing, not too far from where he was lingering off to the side, and once the person standing beside Blaine walked away, Kurt panned down to Blaine's shoes and then slowly back up to his hands that were gesticulating as he spoke, and then his face, capturing the way his eyes were lit up like Christmas had come early and it was happening _right then_. "Look at you."

 

Blaine's suit was just as perfect as Kurt's had appeared on him, tailored to perfection and not missing out on that wonderful style that had served him so well over the years, a bow tie with a hint of sparkle finishing off the look and matching the pocket square that was folded neatly and tucked into his jacket pocket with a playing card sticking up in front of it – as if anyone might have forgotten exactly what kind of character he was playing. It was the ace of hearts, which matched one of the brooches Kurt had on his lapel, and Kurt had let the camera zoom in on it briefly as he'd panned back up over him that first time before keeping the focus on Blaine as he spoke to the person interviewing him.

 

"You're a star, Blaine," Kurt said softly, taking a step back into the hallway and turning the camera around so he could look into it with a proud, loving smile spreading across his features and the slight glimmer of what might have been tears in his eyes. "You're a star, and by the end of the night, everyone is going to know it. You're going to knock their damn socks off, and I'm going to love every second I get to watch you do it."

 

––––––––––––

 

Kurt was clearly sitting just a few rows back from the front of the stage when he turned the camera on, and all that could be heard around him was thunderous applause and the sound of the orchestra playing in the background as he aimed the camera up toward the stage, catching the curtain call as each of the actors came out and took their individual bows.

 

Everyone in the audience was standing, or at least everyone that Kurt was capturing glimpses of as he let the camera pan around slightly to catch the crowd and its reaction to the show they’d just seen. He was cheering right along with them, though not clapping since one of his hands was clearly occupied with holding the camera. Every time someone came to the center to take a bow, the crowd seemed to roar even louder, all building up to the closer they got to the end of the cast.

 

When Blaine made his way to the front to take his bow, everyone around Kurt seemed to erupt past any point they had managed already, the applause reaching an almost deafening level with whistles and yells layered over it. Kurt was right there with them, and seemingly clapping his free hand against his leg if how the camera was shaking was any indication, but he still managed to zoom in closer to capture him.

 

As Blaine straightened up from his bow, he brought both his hands up to his mouth to give a kiss out toward the audience, and he looked straight to where Kurt was sitting as he did, his smile widening in that last moment before he stepped off to the side to make way for the next member of the cast coming to the front.

 

Kurt zoomed back out to get the rest of the cast, and then the final bow as they all linked hands and took one together, and then waited for the curtain to drop and the lights to come back on in the theatre before he switched the camera off.

 

––––––––––––

 

"Excuse me, Blaine, do you have time for a few questions?"

 

Blaine turned from where he was leaning against the banister of a staircase, his gaze flickering behind the camera to Kurt before looking down at it, a grin spreading across his features. There was some tiredness behind his eyes, but clearly he didn't care at all because there was more excitement there than anything else and his expression was nothing but elation as he gave a nod and then brought up the glass in his hand to take a sip of his drink before stooping down to set it on the step he was standing on and brushing the condensation from his hand off onto his pants.

 

"Of course, I always have time for questions when the person asking them is as stunning as you," he replied, a little grin pulling at the corners of his mouth as he cleared his throat. "I saw you at the event before the show but I don't think I got the chance to catch your name."

 

"It's Kurt." There was clear amusement ringing through in Kurt's voice, but Blaine just gave a nod and grinned a little more.

 

"Kurt, I love that name," he said, tilting his head as he looked over the camera at him again. "Kurt. _Kurt_. It has such a nice ring to it. So Kurt, you're here with... a newspaper? Blog?"

 

"Oh, an independent archive of sorts," Kurt replied, huffing out a breath. Blaine just kept looking at him expectantly, and Kurt cleared his throat before he spoke again. "So, this was your Broadway debut... how was it?"

 

"How was it?" Blaine repeated, his eyebrows raising as he rocked back onto his heels, one of his hands coming up to rest over his heart. "It was... _everything_ I ever could have imagined it to be – and I've imagined it a lot of times. This was truly a dream come true, and I know that's a cliché to say but that doesn't stop it from being the truth. This show, this cast, the crew, everyone involved has been a blessing to work with and I am so fortunate that I got to share this night with all of them. And the audience, of course, because what would the show be without it? You guys out there are the reason I could – _we_ could – be out there on that stage tonight."

 

"So definitely worth all the work that led up to tonight?"

 

"I would do it all over again in a heartbeat," Blaine said, biting his lip and smiling softly. "And it's not like it's over, because this was just the first night and from hereon out it's eight shows a week – all that work leading up until now was just getting us ready for that, and I know I'm going to be fine because of it."

 

"Well you looked amazing out there tonight, if I may say so."

 

"I encourage it," Blaine replied with a laugh, shaking his head and running his hand up through his hair to push a few loose curls back into place. "I'm glad to hear it, though. I know the press can be a pretty harsh critic, so I'm glad that at least one person out there thought I did well."

 

"I'm certain that _most_ people out there thought you were incredible, and if they weren't then they were watching some other production because you were."

 

"Why _thank_ you, Kurt."

 

"You're welcome," Kurt said airily, making Blaine laugh again as he crouched down to get his drink again and take a sip of it as he straightened up. "So, your big night is over – well, sort of. The show is, and the after party is starting to wind down... at least enough that a humble soul such as myself could manage to snag a few minutes of your time away from all the bigwig important people who were commanding your attention for most of it..."

 

"As I said before, I'll always have time for you," Blaine cut in smoothly, giving a shake of his head and sighing. "Yes, the before and after were the most hectic parts of all. I much preferred being out on the stage, doing that, as opposed to all the interviews and hobnobbing, but that's part of the job – and I'm glad to do it, it was just so much more than I had expected. However," he paused, clearing his throat, "I'm very fortunate that I have this amazing man who stands by my side through all of it, gets me through the awkward interviews and the nervousness of talking to people who are _so_ important in this industry."

 

"Sounds like quite a catch..."

 

"Oh he _is_ ," Blaine replied, a grin spreading across his features as he glanced down to his feet for a moment before looking back up. "I know I said tonight was a dream come true, but every night I get to spend with him is one of those as well. I don't say that to make it seem like tonight wasn't special, I mean it in the way that it should show you _how_ special tonight is. I know I'm an incredibly lucky guy, not just because I get to do what I love with my life, but because I have someone that wonderful right beside me while I do it, who loves and supports me even when I come home and just want to go straight to bed because I'm so tired, or who always made sure there was extra coffee made the mornings I had early call times to be at rehearsal."

 

"Blaine..."

 

"Who listened to me talk about things happening at rehearsal no matter how many times I'd told a similar story already, and who dealt with me immersing myself into a completely new group of people and worked his way in with them effortlessly, becoming almost as much a part of the cast as anyone who was in the show. He even got this special massage oil after the first time I came home from a rehearsal and said I felt like I had a knot in my back the size of Brooklyn and I wasn't sure if it would ever go away – and then he made the knot go away with his magical hands. So... nights like tonight can seem so big and daunting, and they are, but I think it really helps when you have someone in your life who knows that even the smallest thing is special and can mean the world, which is what all those little things, and the big ones too, he did for me meant to me."

 

"You're going to make the viewers of this independent archive cry, I think," Kurt murmured, his voice thick with emotion even with how softly he was speaking.

 

"I think the viewers of this," Blaine said, speaking in a lower tone as he took a step in closer to Kurt, "Will already know all those things are true."

 

"I think you might be right."

 

" _I_ think that perhaps this interview should be over," Blaine replied after a moment, reaching past the camera for a moment before pulling his hand back. "Because as wonderful as this night has been, and I know I'm going to be playing it over in my head over and over, I really can't think of a better way to end it than going home and ending it with my gorgeous, amazing husband."

 

"He _did_ get those giant cupcakes from your favorite bakery as a celebratory dessert for the evening..."

 

"Like I said, I'm an incredibly lucky guy." Blaine's gaze shifted down from Kurt, a soft smile spreading across his features and making his eyes sparkle lightly before he brought his hand up to press a kiss against his fingertips and hold it out to the camera. "Good night."


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt held a finger up to his mouth as if telling the camera to be quiet, though it wasn't like there was any other sound in the room. There was barely even any sound coming from the city outside, at least that the camera was picking up. He walked out through the living room of their apartment, the camera focusing in on bits and pieces in the background as he moved through the semi-darkness – and it looked like he was tiptoeing his way around until he got to the kitchen, where he turned on a light and leaned back against the counter, holding the camera out in front of him so that it would finally focus on him.

 

The dimness of the apartment made it seem like it was morning, and Kurt's appearance seemed to reinforce that assumption even more. He looked like he'd just woke up, t-shirt rumpled from being sleepily pulled on, his hair mussed with parts sticking out at odd angles in the back, and his eyes just starting to open fully as he blinked to let them adjust to the light, a tired smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

 

"Good morning," he murmured, clearing his throat after speaking to try and get some of the grit out of his voice. "Fancy meeting you here."

 

His gaze flickered over to the direction he'd come from, lingering out there for a long moment before he looked back to the camera. "It's Saturday," he continued quietly, his free hand coming up to run through his hair in an attempt to tame it down. "I don't know if I'd say _this_ Saturday is particularly important, but Saturdays in general are. They're my favorite morning, and that's why I wanted to do this – because I know we've been making sure to get all these big moments, but the small ones are just as important... they're just quieter, easier to take for granted. I try my hardest not to take any of them for granted."

 

There was the sound of a door closing, and Kurt peeked up over the camera as if he'd be able to see where it came from, but then he settled back in against the counter and gave a small shake of his head, his nose scrunching slightly as his gaze shifted back down to meet the lens.

 

"The neighbors always shut their door so loudly," he mumbled, rolling his eyes as if saying, 'but of course you already knew that' to the camera. "Anyway, back to what I was saying... I love Saturday mornings. It's like the calm before the storm. Blaine has two shows on Saturdays, so it's not like we have the entire day to have to ourselves – and the day that he does have off, I'm usually working for a lot of it. Our schedules don't line up perfectly, but we knew they wouldn't. That's not important – what's important is that we get to fall asleep beside each other every night and wake up next to each other every morning."

 

It sounded like something that had been practiced, but not in a bad way if there was anything to take from the way Kurt's smile grew as he said it. He gave a soft little laugh and brought his free hand up to rub across his chest for a moment before he shook his head again.

 

"But Saturday mornings, those are ours. It's when I don't have to do anything, and there's enough time for us to be lazy and relax, go for a walk out to our favorite coffee shop and actually _sit_ and enjoy our coffee there instead of getting it to go and hurrying off to work. We get to have lunch together, _enjoy_ each other, before my wonderful husband goes off to wow the audiences that come to see him for two shows in a day. Sunday mornings are nice, too, but so are Sunday nights – Saturdays have always seemed the most special to me."

 

Kurt drew in a breath and breathed it out in a soft sigh, still smiling as he bit his lip lightly and glanced over out of the kitchen again. "We always sleep in, but I almost always wake up first just out of habit... which is what happened today and I couldn't fall back asleep as much as I wanted to, which is why I figured it was as good a Saturday as any to take account of what we do and keep a memory of it for the future, in case future-Blaine and future-Kurt somehow forget how glorious Saturday mornings are.

 

"So," he continued, looking back to the camera with a mischievous grin. "I think Blaine's been sleeping in long enough. Let's go wake him up."

 

The light to the kitchen got turned off as he left it, but the apartment was still visible in the dim light being cast in through the windows. Kurt wasn't tiptoeing anymore, and his footsteps were the only sound caught by the camera as he walked through the apartment to get to their room, nudging the door open to go inside and walking over to the bed.

 

Blaine was asleep, strewn out on his side of the bed, and Prince Harry was fully stretched out beside him, his long body pressed up against Blaine's side and his limbs pointing up above his head and down toward the foot of the bed, practically on his back. Kurt let the camera pan up over them before leaning down and scratching his fingertips in against the cat's stomach, making him wake enough to curl up and bring his paws in to wrap around Kurt's wrist. That only lasted for a few seconds before Kurt pulled his hand free, stroking his fingers over his fur and scratching up behind his ears, just petting him gently and getting him to wake up more so that he would go off in search of food – an endeavor that only took about thirty seconds to accomplish.

 

Once the cat had gotten up, stretched languidly, and jumped down from the bed to wander off, Kurt moved in closer to get a little footage of his sleeping husband, who looked so peaceful and relaxed all tangled up in the sheets and covers of the bed. He set the camera down on the nightstand, aimed in toward the bed, just level enough to catch Blaine in frame and then the length of the room above him, before crawling onto the bed and nestling up next to Blaine, his hand coming up to brush some rogue curls off his forehead before leaning in to press a kiss against the corner of his mouth.

 

"Blaine," he whispered, barely pulled back enough to speak without his lips brushing against Blaine's skin. He brought his hand down to trace his fingertips lightly against Blaine's chest, light enough to get his attention but not too much to the point where it would tickle, and kissed him again. Blaine stirred at that, his hand shifting up out of the blankets to find Kurt's and catch it, holding it in against his chest for a moment before lifting it up to kiss against his palm, then his wrist, then slowly dotting kisses along the inside of his forearm, obviously waking up a little more as he went, his eyes opening slowly to look over at him once he got to the crook of his elbow. "Morning..."

 

"Morning," Blaine mumbled, letting go of Kurt's hand to put his arm up over him, tugging him over and pulling him into a kiss. It was slow and easy, like the oldest habit either of them had, lips gliding against each other and just the right amount of tongue and teeth for a lazy morning kiss. Kurt made a soft sound in the back of his throat as he pulled back, staying where Blaine had managed to get him half on top of him but still with most of his weight off to the side. "Have you been up long?"

 

"Not long," Kurt replied with a small shake of his head. "I have to warn you that you're being recorded..."

 

Blaine's brow furrowed before he tilted his head to the side, his gaze shifting to meet the camera after a moment and his mouth slowly forming an 'oh' of understanding when he saw it. He cleared his throat and gave a little smile, albeit a tired one, before turning his head back so he could look at Kurt again. "Why?"

 

"Because it's Saturday," Kurt said simply, and Blaine huffed out a soft laugh.

 

"I love Saturdays," he murmured, his hand coming up to cup Kurt's jaw, his thumb stroking against his cheek. "Especially the ones where I wake up with Kurt kisses."

 

"So pretty much every one of them, then."

 

"Yes, pretty much." Blaine grinned at him before tilting his head up to kiss him again, pulling back with a light chuckle. "What's not to love about that?"

 

"Well as soon as we manage to get out of bed, we can go to get some coffee," Kurt said, his fingertips idly drumming against where they were resting on Blaine's chest. "But that requires getting out of bed."

 

"I don't think there's any call for that quite yet," Blaine replied solemnly. "I think we have just the right amount of time to enjoy this bed before we bother getting out of it, and showering, and putting clothes on, all that normal morning business."

 

"If you're inferring that we should do some nefarious things..."

 

"I might be." Blaine paused, tilting his head. "That's a lie. I am."

 

"Well just let me take care of one little thing first..."

 

Kurt leaned in to kiss him, his lips parting against Blaine's almost instantly and tongue flicking out to ghost over his, licking against them softly before catching Blaine's lower lip between his, giving a light suck against it before letting it go with a pop that seemed to echo in the otherwise quietness of the room around them. With that, Kurt reached over for the camera, not looking away from Blaine, and switched it off.

 

––––––––––––

 

"So let me tell you about Saturday mornings," Blaine announced as he turned the camera on.

 

Very different than when he'd been seen before, he was completely put together and dressed. His hair was tamed down as it always was, no longer crazily undone by a night of sleep and being pressed against a pillow, and his face cleanly shaven, lacking the small bit of scruff that had been visible from before. He smiled at the camera, a bright and completely awake smile, and gave a nod as if confirming what he was about to say.

 

"They're the best," he said, sighing softly. "It's just the perfect way to start my day when I know I'm going to be doing two shows, and then another matinee tomorrow which – that's three shows in a pretty short amount of time. I love knowing that I'm going to be waking up whenever I want, even though it's never very late, and that Kurt doesn't have to rush off to work, and I have time to get myself grounded before having to go off and perform for the rest of the day."

 

"You're going to make people think you're crazy, sitting there talking to yourself like that," Kurt said from the side, and Blaine tilted the camera up to catch him standing there with a mug in each hand. There were other people in the background, and enough noise to accompany it to show that they were clearly in a public place, and when Kurt shifted to sit down, Blaine was able to get a little more footage of the area around them.

 

It was a small coffee shop, definitely not as big as the Lima Bean had been but not as cramped as most Starbucks in the city were. There was a lot more character to it than a Starbucks, as well, and it looked as though it were locally owned as opposed to being done by some corporation. The barista behind the counter was laughing genuinely at something the customer closest to them had said, and from the look of everyone sitting around, it was a comfortable, familiar place to many – just like when Blaine turned the camera around to show Kurt settling into his seat. He looked comfortable, like it was just as familiar as their apartment, and he slid Blaine's mug over to him as he pulled his own to the edge of the table closest.

 

"Our wonderful coffee shop," Kurt commented with a content sigh, looking around for a moment before looking over to Blaine and grinning before dropping his gaze to the camera, which was still close to the table where Blaine was holding it. "It was one of the first places we found when we moved in here, and the owner's changed twice but it's still here, and so are we."

 

"You know, one day we're going to move and we'll have to find a new place," Blaine replied, causing Kurt to scrunch his nose in disapproval.

 

"What a horrible thing to say on a Saturday morning, Blaine."

 

"I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying," Blaine protested, turning the camera around to be able to talk to it. "We've lived in the same apartment since I moved here after high school, and I _love_ that apartment, but at some point we're going to find a new place. I'm not saying it's going to be soon, I'm just saying that it'll happen _some_ day, and who knows if the new place will be near this wonderful coffee shop. That's all."

 

"That doesn't make it much better," Kurt said, tsking as Blaine brought his mug up to take a sip of his coffee. "Realistically, I know you're right, and I know there are other coffee shops in other neighborhoods and _when_ we move, which isn't going to be any time in the foreseeable future, we'll just have to find a place good enough to take this one's spot in our hearts and our Saturday mornings."

 

"It'll be a tough job, and it might require a lot of research and coffee tastings to find a place worthy of our patronage," Blaine agreed with a nod, his tone serious even though his eyes were sparkling in a way that showed he was teasing. "Who knows how many mochas you'll have to suffer through before we find _the one_."

 

"This is serious business, Blaine," Kurt replied, and the camera got turned on him again just as he was giving Blaine a mock look of indignation. "Or at least it will be when the time comes for it."

 

"I know, I know," Blaine soothed, and Kurt only managed to hold onto his expression for a few moments longer before he broke into a smile and gave a shake of his head. "Besides, like you said, we're not there yet. I was just saying."

 

"I know you were."

 

"Until then, we have this wonderful place and this wonderful coffee and our wonderful selves to keep each other company," Blaine continued, gesturing airily with his hand enough for it to be caught in frame and earning a laugh from Kurt. "On our wonderful Saturday mornings."

 

"They _are_ wonderful," Kurt agreed, his smile spreading a little as he brought his mug up to take a long drink of his coffee before setting it down and reaching over. "Give me that, please."

 

He pulled the camera from Blaine's hands and held it up more level to his face, aiming it over at Blaine and catching him just as he finished off a sip of his coffee. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, resting his elbow on the table and propping his chin on his hand as he looked into the camera, his gaze flickering between it and where Kurt was behind it. "Yes? May I help you, Mr. Anderson-Hummel?"

 

"What is your favorite part of Saturday mornings?"

 

"In general or today specifically?" Blaine asked, blinking and letting a slow grin spread across his features. "Because today, there was some _pretty_ incredible sex..." He let his voice drop down to a lower tone as he murmured what he was saying, trying to keep the people around them from hearing, but then when he started speaking again he spoke normally. "Which, I suppose that happens a _lot_ of Saturday mornings, but... if you were looking for something _other_ than that, I think I just love how... lazy they are.

 

"I love getting to sleep in, for _you_ to be able to sleep in, and how Harry tries to take up as much room on the bed as possible because he doesn't realize that he's a cat and there's only _so much_ space he can consume at once."

 

"He's a very special cat, Blaine, and he'll take up the entire bed if he wants," Kurt interrupted, causing Blaine's grin to grow. "Continue."

 

"I love taking slow showers... not that my showers are ever particularly _rushed_ but knowing that I _can_ and just spend that extra bit of time in under the water – usually with a bit of company to share it."

 

"You should really stop taking showers with the cat, honey."

 

"Oh _stop_ ," Blaine said with a chuckle, scrunching his nose as he looked over the camera at him. "You know what I mean. You're usually already out of the shower when I wake up, so it's nice to be able to take one with you."

 

"I love that, too."

 

"Right, so there's that. And then getting to watch you get dressed... because that's always something I love. You take such care with every little thing, and I can see the wheels turning when I get to watch you do it, with every little thing you touch it's like you're putting all the pieces of a puzzle together and I get to see all the steps that make it the whole picture. So there's that, and then coming here and spending as much time as we want drinking our coffee – sometimes getting refills and sometimes not – and having biscotti if we feel like it and they have something other than vanilla almond because we got tired of that a while ago."

 

Blaine chuckled again, shaking his head as he shifted his gaze down to the camera again. "So basically, everything. Everything is my favorite part. I refuse to choose, because all of it makes up the best morning of the week every week."

 

With a decided nod, he picked up his mug again to take a long drink of coffee, and Kurt lowered the camera down to rest on the table. Blaine set his mug down, his hand lingering in the frame as the camera shifted again, turning slightly on its side as Kurt leaned over the table to press a lingering kiss against his lips, and Blaine hummed in response as he brought his hands up to cup Kurt's face, holding him there a long moment before letting him go with a soft 'mwah.'

 

"I like the way you think."

 

"I would hope so," Blaine replied, a teasing grin spreading across his features. "You _did_ marry me, after all."

 

"And I'd do it all over again any day of the week – but preferably a Saturday."

 

"In the morning?"

 

"In the morning."


	8. Chapter 8

Blaine slowly pulled his hand back from the camera once it was on and let it drop down to his lap to meet where his other one was, sitting still for a long moment before offering the camera a smile and tilting his head to look into it. That only lasted a second or two before Harry jumped up onto his lap and turned around to be able to nudge his head up against Blaine's chin before curling up and making Blaine move his hands out of the way so he could get situated.

 

"What an entrance," Blaine murmured, giving a soft chuckle and shaking his head as he looked down at the cat, smoothing his hand along his fur and giving a soft little scratch as he got to the base of his spine. "Did you just really want to be in this video, Harry?"

 

As if giving some kind of response, the cat's tail swished up against Blaine's chest before coming down again to curl around him where he was laying. Blaine's smile widened in a way that made the corners of his eyes crinkle as he turned his attention back to the camera, clearing his throat softly.

 

"I haven't seen Kurt for most of two weeks," he confessed, his hand still absently petting over Harry's side. "I would say longer, and it would be kind of true, but these past two weeks more so than that. I'm not saying it in an unfair way, because he has a perfectly justifiable reason to be away and I would never begrudge him what he's doing, never in a million years, I'm just saying that it's true. I've barely seen him beyond the hurried moments of getting ready in the morning, and falling asleep at night. I did take him lunch a few times when I was able to, but Kurt, when you're involved in something you are _involved_ and I know better than to try and pull you away from something you're doing and that you're so passionate about."

 

The smile lingering on his features made it clear that no matter what he'd said about Kurt being busy or not so present, it didn't matter. He breathed out a slow sigh and let his smile spread across his features again, biting lightly at his lower lip as Harry's purring grew loud enough to be heard.

 

"Tomorrow is a very, very important day for my amazing husband," he went on, his gaze flickering up to meet the camera again. "Tomorrow is the day that he's been working toward for all this time, and especially this past month – these past _weeks_. Tomorrow is the day that I, as well as a _bunch_ of other people, get to sit and watch as the incredible fashions of my gorgeous and talented husband come down a runway at New York Fashion Week.

 

"This is something you've been talking about for years, Kurt. Ever since you decided to switch tracks, to leave NYADA and go to Parsons and follow _that_ passion, _that_ dream, you've talked about how one day you wanted to have a show at New York Fashion Week, and that day is coming – it's tomorrow." Blaine dropped his chin down to his chest as he took in a breath, giving a slight shake of his head as he stayed like that for a long moment, his eyes shining when he finally looked back up to the camera. "I don't even know if I have the words to tell you just how _proud_ I am right now."

 

He broke off his a soft huff of laughter, pursing his lips together and giving a soft hum in his throat as he thought it over. "No, I don't. I don't know any words to tell you how proud I am, but I'm still going to try." With a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth and that sparkle still in his eyes, Blaine gave a nod. "I'm going to try my best, because you deserve nothing less.

 

"Kurt, I have always been amazed at everything you do. Even back in high school, you had such an eye for fashion and the details of _everything_ that no one else I knew, especially not anyone else I knew in _high school,_ thought about. I know that I had my own style, and it was fashionable, but it was so simple compared to what you did. You put together the most incredible outfits and I know that no one else would have been able to pull them off, not just because they were somewhat outlandish at times but also because you just had this way of carrying yourself, of presenting yourself in them like they were what was right and there was no question about it. There was _confidence_ in every inch of it, in every inch of _you_."

 

Blaine paused again, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he absently scratched his fingertips behind Harry's ears. "I still think you would be amazing on the stage, and I know that _you_ know you would," he added, giving a little look to the camera and his grin growing that much more. "I would love to see you up there, see you in the spotlight, but that's exactly what tomorrow is – but in your own way. I never had a moment's hesitation when you told me you wanted to go into fashion, partially because that was your choice to make, but also because I knew this was someplace where you would flourish so beautifully, and you have.

 

"I've watched you go through your classes, your internships, the different jobs until you found the right one where you could focus on what _you_ wanted to do, what _you_ wanted to make, and I've gotten to watch you create the most amazing things. You've always been so good at altering clothes that you found, that you bought, to make them unique and just for you, but getting to see you make something from nothing is one of the most incredible things I've ever gotten to do. Well," he paused, giving a coy little smile to the camera, "I have a pretty long list of incredible moments with you in my life, Kurt, so I would put it right up there with proposing to you, to getting to marry you. That's how great it was for me to get to see you take something from the moment of dreaming it up to actually having it there in front of you, tangible and real, something that you thought of and made come to existence just through yourself and nothing else... other than maybe a sewing machine and a little bit of swearing."

 

His smile grew as he gave another light chuckle, shifting to get more situated on his chair and only disrupting Harry a little in his movement, but it was enough for the cat to get up and turn around to curl up again, facing the other direction. Blaine waited for him to be done before letting one of his hands come to rest on him again, drawing in a breath as he let his gaze shift up from the cat to the camera again.

 

"Tomorrow is going to be another moment to add to that list, I know it will be," he murmured, giving a slow nod. "You've been working so hard, you've been planning for this for so long, and it's going to be the greatest thing to watch it all come to fruition. I know you're nervous, and that's okay. I was nervous before my opening night and we'd been in rehearsals and previews for so long that the show was as much a part of me as my fingerprints – being nervous is _so_ okay, Kurt. You're so good at handling situations like that, I know, because you'll just put that brave face on and go headfirst into it, waiting to see what it's going to be like when you come out on the other side.

 

"That other side is going to be so good, Kurt. It's going to be incredible. You've been the most detailed, thought out, organized person about this whole event. You've planned every detail down to the second and I know that if one thing goes off it's probably going to make you a little crazy but it doesn't matter. The tent could blow away and your designs would still be coming down that runway, knocking everyone's socks off with how immaculate and beautiful they are. You are the most talented person I know, and I know a lot of people who would like to claim they're _pretty_ talented so it's not like that's a short list. You'll always be right there at the top, though, my gorgeous, talented, incredible husband."

 

Blaine paused as he bit his lip again, tilting his head to look past the camera for a moment, his gaze flitting around the room before landing back on the lens. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, and that I'm going to be really glad when fashion week is over and I can have my husband to myself again, but I know it's just the beginning. Tomorrow is just the first of so many, and I am going to be just as happy, just as proud, just as _overwhelmed_ with joy for you as I am now, no matter how many come after it. This is such an experience for you to have, and there's no way I would ever want you to trade it for anything in the world. It's a dream coming true, right in front of us, and that truly is a magical moment in life.

 

"No matter how many fashion weeks there are, no matter if you have to fly to Milan, or London, or Paris, or all of the above because everyone loves you so much tomorrow that they just need you _everywhere_ and you become the most talked about new name in fashion, I will always be right there by your side to support every single one. We didn't choose quiet lives, Kurt. We didn't choose 'normal' jobs." His hands came up to air quote around 'normal,' and he looked into the camera with an air of determination. "We chose the lives we couldn't feel like we were living if we weren't living them. They aren't nine-to-five, they aren't weekends off, they aren't jobs that line up perfectly with each other and that is just _fine_. At the end of the day, we make time for each other no matter what else we've had to do during that day. You may have been so busy these past couple weeks, but I know that in the next few you're going to be so glad that you're able to sit still for at least ten to fifteen minutes at a time – and you know just how much we can do in ten to fifteen minutes."

 

There was a lingering moment of quiet, of Blaine sitting there looking at the camera and letting his fingers shift through Harry's fur as he purred away curled up there on his lap. His gaze stayed fixed, so determined and sure of what he was saying, like he wanted to make sure that anyone who saw it understood that he meant every word that he was saying.

 

"Tomorrow is going to be the most wonderful day," he said softly, his smile growing again as he gave another small nod, as though he were agreeing with himself. "It's the day that the rest of the world finally gets to see what I've been honored to see for so long. Tomorrow there are dreams coming true, Kurt. It's your dream happening, coming to life, and my dream to get to see you live that moment. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, I'm so excited for tomorrow, but I do know that you'll be home anytime now – barring any unforeseen complications at the last minute, and I have very specific plans to make sure you're nice and relaxed before you head into that tomorrow.

 

"Until then, just know that I love you and that everything, and I mean everything, is going to be just fine."

 

––––––––––––

 

"Alright, I didn't get any of the actual show," Blaine murmured as he fumbled the camera in his hands, only managing to aim it up at himself after he'd spoken. It wasn't the best lit room that he was in, but it was still easy to see the suit that he was wearing – more colorful than most would dare to try and put on and tailored to him in a way that clearly suggested it was made specifically for him. "I was too busy watching so I didn't really... want to try and split my focus."

 

He gave a little shrug and offered a smile before his gaze shifted up and flitted around the room. There was enough noise in the background to indicate that he was somewhere with a lot of people, though far enough away from them that he could still be heard, and he brought his free hand up to absently straighten his bow tie as he looked back down.

 

"So yes, the show ended a little bit ago and I've been doing the whole rubbing elbows thing, but I had to come and hide away so that I could say just how perfect that all was, Kurt. I know that I'd seen all the designs that were in it, and we'd poured over the model choices together to try and match up the right model with the right outfit and make sure that the order was all right, so going into it I felt like I would know every detail and every step, but I don't think any amount of knowing exactly what was coming could have possibly prepared me for it actually _happening_ , and I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now if that's how _I'm_ feeling. I can't wait to hear, though, and I'm going to go find you and be dutifully by your side until you're finally able to escape and we can go home..."

 

Blaine offered another smile, warm and spreading enough to make his eyes light up even more, to the camera before drawing in a breath and turning it off.

 

––––––––––––

 

When it switched back on again, it was when they were back at their apartment, in their room, the camera aiming over toward the closet as Kurt stood in front of it, starting to take off the crisp, perfectly fitted suit that he'd been wearing. He had the jacket in his hands, carefully putting it onto a hanger to hook onto the inside of the door, and it wasn't until Blaine cleared his throat from behind the camera that Kurt looked over and noticed that he had it on.

 

"So, how does it feel?" Blaine asked, and Kurt settled the hanger with his jacket on the door before turning more toward him, his hand moving up to loosen the knot of his tie.

 

"I don't even know if I can say," Kurt began, a smile etched across his features, one that spelled out happiness along with a bit of disbelief. "It's one of those days that I never thought would happen... and even though I've been going through the planning for it for what feels like _forever_ and it actually _did_ happen, it feels like it actually didn't? Like today was a dream that only happened in my head and not actually real life..."

 

"But it _did_ happen. I was there, I can attest to that."

 

"I know, I know it actually happened, it just _feels_ like it didn't. It feels too good to be true, and it all was such a blur that it's hard to remember exactly everything that went on."

 

"I can try and sum it up for you," Blaine offered cheerfully as Kurt pulled his tie the rest of the way off and started in on the buttons of his shirt, undoing them from top to bottom. "You created this beautiful line of clothing, and then today it rocked its way down a runway, piece by piece, and there were hundreds of people there – from people in the fashion industry to celebrities to family and friends – to witness it. I would say by tomorrow your work will be all over the place being talked about, but considering technology I think it's safe to say that's already happened. You gave interviews to people, because a _lot_ of people wanted to talk to you, and that awesome assistant of yours made sure all the loose ends got tied up so I could bring you home to finally get some rest because it has been _quite_ a day."

 

"You might have to screen the things people are saying before I can look at any of them," Kurt replied, scrunching his nose slightly as he tugged his shirt off and moved over the laundry basket to drop it inside, standing carefully on one leg, then the other, to take off his socks and do the same. "I'm sure it won't all be as good as you'd like to think."

 

" _Kurt_ ," Blaine admonished, huffing out a breath. "This is a _happy_ day and excuse me, but I'd like to think that I have a good eye for fashion and yes, I am biased because you're my husband, but I also would never lie to you. Everything you had out there today was perfect. It was a perfect reflection of the clothes you love to design, the aesthetic you work with, and the way you work with people's bodies when you dress them. Of course there are people out there who might not like it, but considering the amount of people who were _fawning_ over you tonight, I think you should rest assured that there were more who fell in love with your designs and you tonight than felt adversely about it."

 

By the time he was done talking, Kurt had gotten off his suit pants as well and was left standing there in his undershirt and boxer briefs, the smile that had remained present the whole time spread even further across his features, his eyes sparkling as he bit his lip, the smile turning into more of a grin.

 

"I'm really proud of everything I put out there," Kurt said softly, walking over toward where Blaine was sitting on the bed. "It was so many years of work finally coming to something so big that I still can't wrap my mind around it. I know it's going to get crazy from here on out but I don't know if anything will ever be crazier than today was... it's just so unreal that it actually happened."

 

"It's very really that it happened," Blaine corrected gently, reaching out to rest his free hand on Kurt's hip once he got close enough, tilting the camera up to catch him better with how he was standing in front of him. "It's _completely_ real because _you_ are an amazing designer, and now so many more people know that before, and I know you got handed so many business cards and there were so many tentative meetings set up just tonight alone, so yes, it's going to get crazy – but crazy in a _good_ way. You deserve all the success in the world, and today was just the beginning."

 

Kurt leaned down, and the camera focused in on the shirt he was wearing as he kissed Blaine softly, murmuring something against his lips that was not quite able to be picked up, and then flopped down on the bed beside him, sprawling out on his back and sighing as Blaine shifted to sit more sideways and be able to look down at him.

 

"You just had a show at New York Fashion Week."

 

"I did," Kurt confirmed, and a wide grin spread across his features as soon as the words left his mouth, his hands coming up to cover his face as he laughed. "Oh my god, I did."

 

"You did!" Blaine chuckled softly, reaching down and resting his hand against Kurt's chest, his fingertips curling in against the fabric of his t-shirt lightly. "You really did. And now you get to sit still for at least tonight, and tomorrow morning because I already demanded that we get to sleep in and I get to make you a celebratory breakfast in bed since all the meals today were already claimed and rushed and—”

 

"I barely ate I was so nervous," Kurt admitted, looking up at him through his fingers before slowly bringing his hands down from his face, one of them resting over Blaine's on his chest. "I think I had a granola bar and half a sandwich? And a lot of coffee and water."

 

"Well tomorrow you're going to get a feast for breakfast and we're going to stay in bed for at least half the day, though it's negotiable – I'm open to also spending time on the couch," Blaine said, making Kurt smile a little more. "The point is that you are going to relax, and not have to be up on your feet or stressing out about anything. We're going to veg out and enjoy our day, and then the day after we can go back to real life and having to deal with people outside this apartment."

 

"I like the way you think, Mr. Anderson-Hummel," Kurt murmured as he propped himself up on one of his elbows, using the hand that had been resting on Blaine's to reach past the camera and tug at Blaine's shirt, pulling him forward and making the camera jostle a little. "But I also think you should put that camera away for the night."

 

"Oh I see how it is," Blaine whispered teasingly. "Have one show at New York Fashion Week and all of a sudden you think you can boss people around..."

 

Kurt smirked and gave another tug to Blaine's shirt, and within seconds the camera was dropped onto the bed, only managing to catch a few yelps of laughter and kisses being passed back and forth before someone's hand searched through the covers to find it and turn it off.


	9. Chapter 9

“This feels so strange.”

 

Kurt’s voice came from behind the camera as he panned over a large, regal, familiar building. He took a few steps forward as he zoomed in a little, capturing it all – the entrance, balcony, landscaping kept so neat and perfect – before turning the camera around and giving a soft smile as he held it out in front of him so it would be level with his face.

 

“The last time I was here was after Dad drove me, and I was greeted with horn section flanking the doors,” he said, starting to walk up toward the building as he spoke. There was a lingering look of nostalgia in his gaze as he kept it focused over the camera, toward where he was headed. For a few seconds, the only sound was his footsteps against the gravel, the slight crunch as it shifted beneath his shoes. “The last time I was here, I was wary… and nervous – then I walked through those doors and all of that just… went away.”

 

He paused as he stepped up onto the little porch just outside the door, his gaze moving over the building in front of him before he looked down to the camera, his smile spreading a little more. “This is where we met, and where we got engaged, and while I’m sure there are much more exotic places we could go to celebrate a milestone anniversary, this feels like the right place to be.”

 

“Okay, we should be good.” Blaine’s voice came from out of frame, and Kurt turned the camera around to focus on him as he came out through the main doors right beyond where Kurt had been standing. He slipped his hands into his pockets as he came closer, his head tilting slightly to be able to look at Kurt behind the camera as he did.

 

They both were dressed more simply than they had been the last time they’d been at Dalton, but the lack of suit jackets didn’t mean they weren’t dressed for the occasion. Blaine’s sweater vest looked soft and fitted against his torso, and the bow tie he was wearing was navy with little stripes of red and white decorating it – clearly hailing back to where they were. He reached up to take the camera from Kurt, turning it around and taking a few steps back to be able to catch more of him in the frame, capturing the waistcoat he was wearing, the way the top couple buttons of his shirt were undone to make space for the ascot he had on, the peacock blue a stark contrast to the rest of his outfit, all monochromatic.

 

“How much did you have to bribe the headmaster?” Kurt asked teasingly, his smile turning into a grin.

 

“I bribed no one,” Blaine retorted, chuckling softly from behind the camera. “Sometimes all it takes is asking politely, and…”

 

“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that _you_ were the one doing the asking,” Kurt said with a playful roll of his eyes. “They always loved you here.”

 

“What can I say? I was a very good student.”

 

“I think it’s a little more than that,” Kurt replied dryly, the corners of his mouth twisting with a teasing smirk. “I’m not sure if they would have let just _any_ good student, _former_ student, take over half of their school and a hoard of their students for a proposal, Blaine. Just admit it, you’re special.”

 

“Well you always make me feel like I am, so I guess I’ll admit to it…”

 

Blaine reached his hand out and Kurt glanced down before reaching to take it, a smile spreading across his features and making the corners of his eyes crinkle slightly as he looked back up, his gaze flickering to the camera before looking behind it to Blaine. There was a brief pause, then Blaine moved to be beside him as they walked through the doors to go into the building side by side, the change in lighting taking a moment for the camera to adjust as they moved in the foyer and started down the hallway.

 

“I’ll always love this place,” Blaine commented softly, letting the camera pan over the corridor and take in the scope of it – the rich woods, furniture, the way that everything looked as though it had _just_ been cleaned. Kurt hummed in agreement, walking at a little bit quicker of a pace to be slightly in front of Blaine, leading him down the hall by his hand and walking through a doorway to lead out to the main staircase, and Blaine let the camera focus up on the dome above before slowly panning down the curve of the stairway.

 

“This is my favorite part,” Kurt murmured, letting go of Blaine’s hand and going up the steps, his hand resting on the railing and running it along it as he ascended about halfway before turning around to look down at him. “When I think of Dalton, this is always the first thing I picture, this staircase.”

 

“It’s a very nice staircase,” Blaine agreed, and Kurt scrunched his nose at him in response.

 

“Hush, you know what I mean.” Kurt leaned against the railing slightly, peering down over it and then up above, his fingertips tapping lightly as his gaze dropped back down to where Blaine was standing, and Blaine moved over to take a few steps up the stairs. “I’ll never forget it was like, that first time I saw you – that first time you took away my breath.”

 

“You were a horrible spy,” Blaine said teasingly, but even just by his voice it was easy to tell he was smiling in that way that made his eyes sparkle. “But the most gorgeous spy the Ohio high school show choir circuit has ever seen.”

 

“Well at least that made up for how bad I was at it, I suppose.”

 

Kurt had barely finished speaking before there was a soft hum of singing in the background that made him break off, his gaze flitting around the room below them before moving back to Blaine, his eyes narrowed playfully as he looked at his husband. “Blaine…”

 

“Yes, Kurt?”

 

“What did you do?”

 

“I didn’t do anything,” Blaine said innocently, shifting back down the steps as the humming seemed to get louder, keeping the camera focused on Kurt, who stayed where he was on the stairs, before he turned to the doorway they’d come through and let the camera focus briefly on the familiar ties and blazers of Dalton Academy before he handed the camera off to one of the Warblers standing there. He walked back out to the stairs and they followed, the one with the camera not singing like the rest but just making sure to keep the frame on them as Blaine went up the staircase to stop a few steps below Kurt, holding his hand up to him.

 

“ _Didn’t do anything?_ ” Kurt repeated, gesturing down to where the Warblers had assembled down below before slipping his hand into Blaine’s. “Liar.”

 

“You know how the Warblers are, they just… appear!” Blaine replied, grinning up at him and leading him down the stairs. “They just burst into song throughout the school all the time, and—”

 

“—no, I’m pretty sure this is your doing,” Kurt interrupted, glancing over toward the camera before turning his attention back to Blaine as they reached the bottom of the staircase. It was still just a hum of music, no words, but the melody and harmonies being vamped around them were easy to identify. “Unless ‘Teenage Dream’ is still part of their repertoire, which I highly doubt it is.”

 

“It’s a classic,” Blaine said, still walking backward as he led Kurt into the open space of the room, pulling him in closer once they were away from the stairs and letting his arm slide around his waist as he started to dance with him.

 

The arrangement that the Warblers sang – which they started singing as soon as Blaine and Kurt began dancing together – was a slower, ballad style version than the one Blaine had sang originally, and though he couldn’t be heard over the rest of them, it was obvious that Blaine was singing along with how his mouth was moving up by Kurt’s ear.

 

They stayed dancing like that throughout the whole song, Kurt’s arm circled around Blaine’s shoulders and his chin coming down to rest on top of it from time to time. His fingers noticeably curled around Blaine’s shoulder where they were resting as he let his gaze flicker around the room at all the Warblers spread around as they sang, a soft little laugh falling from his lips when they got to the bridge and started doing a little choreography, caught in the background and off to the side of the frame. Kurt’s hand squeezed lightly at Blaine’s shoulder to get his attention, but Blaine just smiled to himself and tilted his head up to murmur the words against Kurt’s ear.

 

The last notes resonated around the room as the song ended and it seemed to last forever, the music hanging in the air as Kurt let go of Blaine’s hand to bring his own up and cup his jaw, pressing a firm kiss against his mouth. Blaine brought his hand in to rest on Kurt’s chest, his thumb rubbing against the fabric of his waistcoat lightly before he managed to pull back, looking up at him with a smile that could have lit up the entire room if it had needed to.

 

The entire room seemed frozen for those few seconds of them just standing and staring at each other before the moment broke, and they pulled away from each other, Blaine moving to go over to one of the Warblers who had led the others in and Kurt turned slowly turning on the spot to take them all in, his hands clasped up against his chest, and the camera switched off.

 

––––––––––––

 

Blaine cleared his throat softly as he turned the camera on, his hand coming up to finish undoing his already halfway undone bow tie as he leaned back from the camera to sit comfortably in his chair. It wasn’t the best lit room, but there was enough light for him to be illuminated clearly and for the rest of the room to be seen behind him. He stayed silent as he tugged his bow tie free from his collar and folded it neatly before setting it onto his leg, his gaze fixed on it for a moment before moving up to look into the camera again.

 

“What a day,” he started, biting his lip softly and tucking his chin down toward his chest as he smiled in a way that looked as though it had snuck up on him and escaped without him realizing it was happening. “God, what a day.”

 

He huffed out a quiet laugh and shook his head before letting his gaze move back up to the lens. “Our _tenth_ anniversary, Kurt. We’ve been married for _ten years_. It feels like it’s been so much longer than that – like it’s been an entire lifetime already, but at the same time like it’s flown by so fast. It feels like just last week we were at Dalton when you said you’d marry me, and then yesterday we got married, and today here we are… and somehow it’s been ten years.”

 

There was silence again as Blaine traced his fingers around the bow tie on his lap, his head tilting to the side as he seemingly got lost in his thoughts for a long moment. The room was quieter than their apartment ever was, not providing any noise or sounds from the city to fill the background during the silence. His smile didn’t fade, it just kept the corners of his mouth turned up and the corners of his eyes crinkling just enough to show it had reached them as well.

 

“We’ve known each other for fifteen years,” he said, his voice seeming loud in the quiet despite how softly he was speaking. “Fifteen years – I’ve officially known you for half my life.” His eyes sparkled as his smile grew, and he let out a little laugh again. “I can’t remember not knowing you – not that I would want to try. Obviously I remember growing up, and different big events that happened before I did, but I can’t remember what it _felt_ like not to know you, not to have you in my life. I wasn’t just making it up when I said it never felt like I was getting to know you, that I was just remembering you, because it’s true, it’s so true, Kurt. It feels like you’ve always been a part of me, even before we met fifteen years ago, I was just waiting for you to actually be there.

 

“That’s why it didn’t ever feel like we were too young for any of it,” he went on, giving a small shake of his head. “I know that’s a topic that was worn out and old way before now, but it’s true. So many people said we were too young – to get engaged when we did, to get married when we did – but they didn’t _know_. Yes, _we_ were young, but our love _wasn’t_. It’s why I can sit here today and still know now what I knew then, and that’s that _you_ are the person I’m meant to love, cherish, and adore, today on our anniversary and every day for the rest of my life. I meant it when I said it at our wedding, and I mean it now more than ever.”

 

Blaine’s gaze moved over to the side, his head turning so he would be able to see what he was looking at before he shifted in his seat, leaning back to get more comfortable and looking to the camera again.

 

“What a day, though,” he murmured, his tongue darting out to wet his lips before he continued. “I couldn’t imagine having spent it anywhere but where we did. I know we usually have low key-ish celebrations of our own but _ten years_ called for something more, and where else could we have possibly gone but Dalton? I owe that school so much for giving me the place I met you – that’s why it only felt right to propose to you there, and why it was the only destination on our list when we decided to go somewhere for today.

 

“I knew what I’d planned with the Warblers, obviously, but then you…” Blaine broke off with a soft chuckle, his nose scrunching as he looked into the camera, “…you, Kurt, caught me by surprise. For as much time as you’d spent looking at all the different restaurants in Westerville, trying to find the right one for us to have our anniversary dinner, I hardly expected to find myself being brought back to Dalton to have a candlelit dinner in the room where you said you’d marry me – just the two of us tucked away from the world, no distractions, with _wow_ amazing catering.”

 

His hand moved up to rub over his jaw as he exhaled slowly. “It was the perfect way to spend the evening, followed by having that little celebration with both our families – other than the part where we took one of our bags into your dad’s house to get something out of it and then _left_ it there, which is why I’m sitting here in this hotel room alone at the moment. You should be getting back any time now, but at least this gave me some time to make sure we got our bottle of champagne and that it was properly chilled, and to talk to our future selves for a little while, which is always a treat – I love those guys.”

 

Blaine grinned as he reached forward to get the camera from where it was resting, picking it up and turning his chair around to take in the room, which was large and pristine other than the two suitcases sitting open on the floor. “So this is our room,” he said, standing up and walking over to the suitcases so he could crouch down and put his bow tie inside before straightening up again and turning to get the side of the room he’d been sitting in before. “It’s _pretty_ nice. Oh, and the bathtub is ridiculous.”

 

It only took a few swift steps to cross the room and get to the doorway leading into the bathroom, and Blaine hummed softly to himself behind the camera as he flipped the light switch inside and stepped in to pan over to where the bathtub was, walking to it as he spoke. “I know we read the description of the room when we booked it, so I _knew_ there was going to be a giant bathtub with all kinds of jets and fancy things, but with everything else that went on today, I guess I just forgot? But you need to get back so we can try it out and see if it’s as great as it looks.”

 

As if on cue, there was the sound of the lock on the door undoing itself with a whir, and Blaine turned around to look back toward the doorway as the main door to the hotel room opened and Kurt stepped inside, bag slung over his shoulder and a key card in his hand. “Thanks for leaving a key for me down at the desk, I—”

 

Kurt broke off as he looked over to Blaine, raising an eyebrow at the camera and bringing up his hand to hook into the strap of the bag he was carrying so he could slip it off his shoulder and onto the floor. He reached back to move the latch on the door so it was locked before stepping into the doorway of the bathroom, leaning against the doorjamb and folding his arms across his chest, a soft smile spreading across his features. “Should I ask why you’re standing in the bathroom with a video camera?”

 

“Because we have an amazing bathtub.”

 

“Oh, I see,” Kurt replied, tilting his head to be able to see behind Blaine to the bathtub and giving a little nod before looking back to him. “That _does_ look nice.”

 

“Doesn’t it? I was just making sure to properly document how wonderful it looks. There’s also champagne.”

 

“Ooo,” Kurt said as he pushed himself up from the doorframe and started into the room toward him, his hand coming up to undo the buttons of his waistcoat. “Champagne and a giant bathtub… whatever shall we do with ourselves this evening?”

 

“I have some ideas,” Blaine replied, a lightness in his voice that made it easy to envision how much he was smiling as Kurt came to a stop a few steps in front of him. “Though I’m open to suggestions.”

 

“I might have a few suggestions.” Kurt nodded, a slow grin working its way across his features. “But first…”

 

Kurt reached forward and took the camera from Blaine turning it around and aiming it at them both as he stepped in beside him, his free arm moving to circle around Blaine’s shoulders and hug him in snug against his side. “Blaine?”

 

“Yes, Kurt?” Blaine asked, tilting his head to look over at him, grinning softly.

 

“Happy Anniversary.”

 

“Happy Anniversary to you, too.”

 

“It’s been a good ten years.” Kurt dipped his head in to press a kiss against the corner of Blaine’s mouth, but Blaine turned his head to catch his lips against his own and hummed softly against them as he kissed him for a long, lingering moment, and Kurt exhaled softly when they pulled apart. “I bet we can top it with the next ten, though.”

 

“I like our odds,” Blaine murmured in response before letting his gaze flicker back up to the camera where Kurt was holding it, and he reached up to meet his hand so he could turn it off after he spoke. “Happy Anniversary, future-selves. I can only imagine all the wonderful ones you’ve had over the years.”


	10. Chapter 10

"Alright, this is kind of important," Blaine started as the camera switched on, and he settled back in his chair, sitting next to Kurt and glancing over at him with a soft smile. "Wouldn't you say?"

 

"I would," Kurt agreed, reaching over to take his hand and lacing their fingers together, his thumb rubbing against the back of Blaine's hand as he turned his attention to the camera. "It's a pretty big step, which we probably should have taken by now but we just... hadn't yet."

 

"We've been a little busy with other things, but it got to the point where we couldn't exactly ignore it any more," Blaine continued with a nod, clearing his throat softly and letting his gaze flit around the room. "Plus, it's hard to make that kind of decision when you've been someplace so long."

 

"We're moving," Kurt supplied, the corners of his mouth turning up in a grin as he squeezed Blaine's hand. "Which has been a _long time coming_ quite honestly, I have no idea how we've survived this long in this apartment."

 

"It's rent controlled, that's how." Blaine huffed out a soft laugh and looked over to Kurt, leaning in and kissing his cheek before resting his forehead against his temple. "It's rent controlled and we've been making do with the space that we have, but at some point our living room turned into your home office – which was perfectly fine because it's not like we really did much in our living room before – and I think you deserve to have a room that's _actually_ good for you to work in, not one that's half-furniture and the rest covered in sample and projects and all that."

 

"Plus thank _God_ that Harry doesn't really shed," Kurt added, and as if on cue, the cat jumped up onto his lap and swished his tail in his face as he turned a circle and moved to curl up. Kurt's free hand moved down to scratch behind the cat's ears, a soft smile spreading across his features. "Isn't that right, kitty?"

 

Blaine glanced down at the cat, his hand moving over to smooth down against his fur and slowly pet him until Harry was purring, barely audible on the camera but still enough to be heard. Both he and Kurt kept their attention on the cat for a long moment more, as if the camera was forgotten completely, before Kurt's gaze flickered up to it again and he bit his lip with a grin. He cleared his throat and nudged Blaine's shoulder lightly with his own, nodding to it once Blaine looked up, and they both refocused on the task at hand – Harry seemingly not bothered by the shift in attention as he brought his paw up closer to his face to lick, ignoring them entirely.

 

"Right, so we're moving," Blaine said, repeating what Kurt had already voiced but adding a nod and biting his lip. "And not just to another apartment, but to an actual house."

 

"It's a big step, and wow it's going to take some adjusting. We've been here for _so long_ and we're used to the space that we have, but I can't wait."

 

"We're going to have so much room," Blaine went on with a laugh, shaking his head and bringing his hand up to run through his hair. "I don't know what we're going to do with it all, but I'm sure we'll be able to think of something."

 

"Well, we're going to have to get some more furniture, that's for sure – we've accumulated more than rightly fit in this apartment but definitely not enough to fill that house," Kurt added, looking down at Harry for a moment before letting his gaze return to the camera. "That'll be fun, though. We can decorate it however we want. We can _paint_ things – oh my God, we can have walls that are something other than white or beige."

 

"We've made do with our bland colored walls," Blaine replied, glancing around the room and smiling to himself. "I mean, we covered them in enough stuff to keep from being able to see them, but that worked pretty well. I'm excited to be able to paint, though. There are _so many rooms_ we could paint. There are just so many rooms in that house. It's so weird because it's not like I grew up in a tiny house, or an apartment like this, but after being here for so many years it feels like I've never known anything but this place, this _size_ of place, and that house is going to seem like a mansion in comparison."

 

"It's not _quite_ that big. Well, it's big compared to this and especially considering we're still in _New York_ where it feels like everything is small and cramped, but still, yes. When we went to look at it the first time, it felt like there was so much open space... like I could _breathe_." Kurt paused, tilting his head to the side as he considered his words and then glanced over at the camera again. "Not that I don't feel like I can breathe here, but like it was easier to do there because there was more room, more air. If that makes any sense?"

 

"It already felt like home," Blaine supplied, and Kurt nodded in agreement. "Which, we'd looked at a few different places, but it was the one where we walked in and felt like _that_ was where we were supposed to be. When we walked through, I could envision what each room could be – could see the way we could arrange our furniture in them, how we could fit what we already had into the space that was there, how much more space we had to work with and how we could make it our own."

 

"Right," Kurt murmured, giving another small nod. "All the other places, they were nice and I'm sure we would have enjoyed any of them as well, but that house was the one that felt like it was meant to be our home."

 

"So that's why we chose the place that we did! And I cannot wait to move, though it's going to be a pain to pack up everything – we've accumulated so much for only having so much space to fit it in."

 

"I'm personally glad to be hiring a moving service," Kurt added, his eyes sparkling as he grinned at Blaine. "Because I know it was a while ago, but I remember moving in here and how _exhausting_ it was, lugging everything up the stairs and then still having to unpack it. Being able to cut out the main physical labor of it and just have to focus on unpacking and settling in, that sounds much better than having to do it all ourselves."

 

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure we could round up enough friends to keep it from being as daunting an endeavor, but you're right," Blaine agreed, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss against the corner of Kurt's mouth. "It's enough to take on to pack everything, and then unpack it once it's there. We have a lot of things, and keeping it all organized is so important, so it's good we only have to keep our focus there."

 

"It's going to be the most organized move ever, we'll make sure of it," Kurt said with a nod, turning his gaze back to the camera and smiling. "So the next time you hear from us, it'll be from our amazing new house in Brooklyn instead of our small but well loved apartment in Manhattan. It'll be sad to leave this place, but it's time."

 

"It's definitely time." Blaine smiled, giving Kurt's cheek a kiss before turning to reach for the camera. "So until then..."

 

––––––––––––

 

When the camera turned on again, it was in a place that was definitely not the apartment it had been used in for so many years on end. The room was much more expansive than any of the rooms had been, and it definitely didn't look lived in or well loved yet – but that might have had something to do with the boxes lining the walls, some opened but other still taped shut. There was light coming in from the windows, and the walls were stark white but making the room look bright. The couch they'd had for years was sitting in the middle of the room, facing a fireplace with empty bookshelves flanking it on either side.

 

"So this is it," Blaine murmured from behind the camera, panning around the room and taking it in before turning to capture what was behind him, the open area that formed a dining room, table and chairs already set in place, and led back into the kitchen – easily three times the size of what they'd had in the apartment. There were stairs in between, a metal staircase that was almost industrial looking but that led up through the ceiling to the second floor. "Home sweet home."

 

He walked past the table and chair, moving closer to the kitchen and taking in the full space of it as he moved past a partial wall. There were boxes everywhere, but clearly there had been some unpacking done already because there were appliances on the counter and one of the cupboard doors was open where they had been putting plates and mugs in their place on the shelves. Even just the rooms he'd gone through already were easily the space that their apartment had been, and that was even without leaving the ground floor.

 

"Living room, dining room, kitchen," Blaine said, turning the camera around so he could speak facing it instead of just behind it, and he grinned as he spoke. "Pretty nice, huh? I love this place already, if you couldn't tell. There's a patio out there..." He waved his hand, motioning toward the right area, "and down here is where the laundry room is, but there's a lot more to show so let's just keep going!"

 

Blaine turned the camera around as he moved back toward the stairs, humming quietly to himself as he went up them to the next level. There was an open room at the top of the stairs, with more windows bringing in the light from outside and boxes scattered around with bright labels on them to signify what they were and where they belonged.

 

"What's so great about this place is how quiet it is," he commented as he let the camera take in the room before moving over to an open door off to the side. "Our apartment got so much noise from outside, and our neighbors, and it's crazy how much quieter it is here when you don't have walls that you're sharing with someone else, or someone living above you. I'm not saying that our upstairs neighbors at the apartment were actually elephants, but they sure did walk like them sometimes."

 

He chuckled as he flipped on the light in the room, standing back in the doorway to be able to capture it all with the camera. "So this is a guest bedroom, and it's actually pretty big... and it has its own bathroom, right over there." Blaine stepped into the room and across to the doorway that was there, aiming the camera so it could see into the bathroom as he spoke. "There's another room just like this upstairs, beside ours, and it's great. But this floor also has an office type room? So that'll be great for Kurt to be able to use instead of the living room again."

 

Blaine moved out of the room, turning off the light as he went across to another doorway across the main open room on the floor, looking into it with the camera and taking in all that was in it. "Like I said, perfect for Kurt. I'm lucky to be able to do my work pretty much anywhere, because I can sing and rehearse anywhere that I can stand or move, but he has a lot more that he has to work with, and even though he has an office outside of here... he needs space other than that. This house, we could have turned any room into that, because there are _so many rooms_ that I don't know what we're going to do with them all. We'll find something, I'm sure.

 

"What I'm really excited about," he went on as he stepped back out of the office and panned the camera around the room again, "is that we finally have space that I can get a piano. I've had my keyboard, which has worked fine and it's a really nice keyboard with weighted keys so I didn't miss not having an actual piano too much, but I'm looking forward to it. I think we're going to put it in here? It seems like a good place, because downstairs is more of just a gathering place if we have people over, a relaxing space, but up here is more for us and what we do... so I'm looking forward to getting that and being able to use it."

 

There was another staircase, similar to the one he'd gone up already, off to the corner of the room, and Blaine went up the stairs to lead to the final floor of the house. "Up here is even better, because it's just... ridiculous. I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves after being used to that apartment for so long, there's just so much space." Blaine huffed out a laugh as he got to the top of the stairs. "So over here we have the other bedroom I was talking about, pretty much like the one down there was..."

 

He peeked into the room, turning on the light to look around it with the camera, crossing through the empty space and into the bathroom like he had before. "We're definitely going to have to go on a mass shopping trip to get towels and shower curtains and just _everything_ once we figure out color schemes for all these rooms and get them painted. It's still kind of crazy to think that we get to do whatever we want, because this is _ours_ , but I'm sure that will wear off soon enough and we'll get cracking on it... once we actually have a chance to settle in."

 

Blaine left the room and hummed to himself as he turned off the light, heading down the hall to get to the room at the end, pausing just outside the doorway and turning the camera to face himself. "This is the best part," he whispered, his eyes sparkling as he smiled. "I wasn't kidding when I said it was ridiculous, and that I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves, because... I just don't. Our room at the apartment was... _ours_. It was comfortable, cozy, a little small but everything in that apartment was – it was New York sized. This is so much bigger, and it's _wonderful_ that it is, but oh my God it's ridiculous."

 

Kurt was one of the first things the camera caught when Blaine turned it around and walked into the master bedroom, and he was smoothing down the comforter on the bed. Out of all the rooms, it was the one in the house that seemed as though it had the most unpacked. There were boxes, yes, but the bed was set up and made, pillows arranged neatly at the head of it, and as Blaine turned around in the room to take it all in, it was easy to see that the closet door was open and there were clothes already hung inside.

 

"How's the tour going?" Kurt asked, and Blaine turned back toward him as Kurt moved closer, leaning around the camera to kiss him.

 

"It's going perfectly!" Blaine replied, turning the camera to capture them both as they smiled. "We're almost at the end, but it's almost the most important part."

 

"That it is," Kurt agreed, his gaze flickering around the room. "May I?"

 

"Of course." The camera jostled slightly as Blaine handed it over to him, and Kurt leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before flipping the camera around to face the room again.

 

"So I think this room is almost the size of our apartment," Kurt commented as he moved into it further. "Or at least our room, the living room, and the kitchen. The bathroom is... well, it's probably three times the size of our old bathroom." He stepped over to the walk-in closet and let the camera look inside, sweeping over it. "I think the closet is as big as our bathroom at the apartment, actually."

 

"Easily," Blaine agreed, and Kurt turned back to look at where he'd perched on the edge of the bed. "Looking at it, I have no idea how we fit all our clothes in our apartment, because I know that thing's going to be full once we're done unpacking."

 

"We made do with what we had to work with," Kurt replied, and Blaine nodded with a smile before gesturing over toward the bathroom. "Ah yes, and now there's this..."

 

Kurt moved over to the other doorway in the room, turning on the light as he stepped inside the doorway to the bathroom. There was an expansive counter, with a few boxes placed on it but neatly stacked against the corner to keep it from being completely covered and cluttered, and the towels were already hung on the racks on the wall. At the end of the room was a giant marble spa bath, and Kurt moved through the bathroom to get closer to it. "I don't know how I'm ever going to be expected to get out of this," he murmured, letting the camera sweep over it before he turned around to be able to see out of the bathroom into the bedroom again, taking in the length of the room and the tile covering the floor. "It's so perfect, I can't wait to take the world's longest bath."

 

"Well, once we get done unpacking for the day..." Blaine commented, flopping back onto the bed and sighing as Kurt walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom again. "I know I took a break to do the video, but I'll go back to work once it's done, I promise, as much as I would like to just take a nap right here for a while."

 

"I'm not entirely opposed to the nap idea," Kurt said, huffing out a soft laugh and sitting beside him, laying back and turning the camera to face them. "Despite other people doing the heavy lifting, it's been an exhausting day so far... and we've done a good amount of unpacking, despite how many boxes are still sitting out there."

 

"We just have a lot of boxes," Blaine agreed with a nod, tilting his head to look over at Kurt, his nose almost brushing against his cheek. "So... nap and then more unpacking? And then the world longest bath in the world's most amazing bathtub?"

 

"That sounds like a perfect plan," Kurt murmured, turning his head to brush a kiss against his lips. "Good thinking."

 

"So yes, welcome to our home," Blaine said as he looked up to the camera with a soft grin, reaching his hand up to meet Kurt's where he was holding it. "It's a beautiful place and I'm sure you're going to see much more of it in the future—"

 

"–and it will be much nicer looking and less full of boxes when you do," Kurt added.

 

"But for now, we nap."  


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, okay..."

 

Blaine drew his arm back from the camera, folding his hands in his lap and looking over to Kurt, who was seated beside him. They were sitting close together, with just enough light coming in the windows behind them to brighten the room, and Kurt exhaled slowly as he lifted his gaze to meet the camera. It wasn't that they looked nervous, more like anxious, and neither said anything for a few more seconds before Kurt reached over and rested his hand over Blaine's.

 

"This is the biggest deal," he started, thumb absently rubbing over the back of Blaine's hand. "I know we've talked about some pretty important things on here, but this tops them all."

 

"I'm sure this is a day that our future-selves remember well," Blaine added softly, nudging Kurt's shoulder with his own and offering him a gentle smile. "Or at least, they'd better."

 

"It's something we've been talking about for a while," Kurt went on, giving a nod and letting the corners of his mouth turn up in a hint of a smile. "We've known for years that this is what we've wanted, but it was a matter of waiting for the right time, being in the right place. Neither of us wanted to go rushing into something we weren't ready for, and especially with this... we had to make sure we were in a good place in our lives first."

 

"I think it started becoming more of a reality and possibility when we bought the house." Blaine's brow furrowed for a moment before he glanced over to the camera with a bit more of a smile than before. "The apartment restricted us more than either of us realized, I think, but then once we were here and we had so much to work with... it was easier to see the dreams we'd put off being able to be pursued. There's more space to work with, we're able to have so much more – and I don't mean materialistically, though that's true as well, but..."

 

"What we're trying to say," Kurt cut in smoothly once Blaine had trailed off, clearing his throat and giving Blaine's hand a squeeze. "Is that for a long time now, we've been thinking of making an addition to our family."

 

"And we don't mean getting another cat."

 

"No," Kurt replied with soft laugh, shaking his head. "We've been talking for years about having a baby, but we didn't want to take that step until we had a place where we could raise one well, or until we were both solid enough in our careers that we would be able to do right by him or her. We didn't want to take that step before we were ready, and like Blaine said, once we got the house and everything started falling into place with that... it seemed like the right time was there in front of us."

 

"Even with knowing what we wanted to do, it still took a while," Blaine added, bringing his free hand up to rub at his jaw. "Obviously it would take a little more effort and planning for us to be able to have a baby than, say, most straight couples – but we'd been looking into it for so long it wasn't like we didn't know the different options available and how to go about pursuing them."

 

Kurt gave a nod and pulled their linked hands over onto his lap, his other hand coming over to rest against Blaine's forearm, his fingers wrapping around it and squeezing lightly. Blaine glanced down at their hands briefly before looking up to Kurt's face, taking in his expression for a moment before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth, lingering there a few seconds before pulling back and offering him a smile.

 

"So we found a surrogate," Kurt went on after another lapse into silence, smiling a little more after the kiss from Blaine and the further discussion into the topic at hand. "We'd thought maybe looking into friends or family, but in the end we decided what would probably be best would be to go through an agency, which we did."

 

"We read through so many applications, it felt like we might not ever find the right one, but thankfully we did." Blaine huffed out a soft laugh and shook his head. "It was like that was all we did for a while in the evenings – come home, sit down, read through surrogate applications, go to bed..."

 

"It was worth it to find the right one," Kurt murmured, and Blaine quickly agreed.

 

"Of course it was, and we did, and I would go through hundreds more if it was necessary to find the person we did."

 

"We decided to wait to make this video until she was a certain ways through the pregnancy," Kurt continued, his thumb rubbing over where it was resting on Blaine's arm. "We wanted to make sure that it was really happening, and I think the first month or month and a half there was still this period of disbelief that it was _actually happening_ , and then we made the decision to wait until after the twenty-week ultrasound because then we would be past the halfway point and also, we would know the gender of the baby."

 

"There was some debate on whether we should find out or not," Blaine said, biting his lip lightly before giving a shrug. "I think we would have been fine either way, but I also think it's nice to know."

 

"Knowing means we can start accumulating clothes."

 

"Right," Blaine replied with a light laugh. "We'd already decided on what to do with the nursery, regardless..."

 

"Well we can just show that." Kurt let go of Blaine's arm to reach forward and pick up the camera, rising to his feet and stepping back from the table. Blaine wasn't far behind, and cut in front of him as they moved through the house and went up the stairs to get to the top floor, and he pushed open and turned on the light to the bedroom at the front of the hall, moving into it as Kurt stepped into the doorway and turned the camera so it could take in the room.

 

The walls were painted a pale yellow and there was white trim accenting it, which matched the crib placed up against the far wall. It was definitely a work in progress, with furniture spread out and clearly not placed where it was meant to be, but it was obviously something they'd been working on in the time they were able, little by little, as they moved through the weeks heading toward the birth of their child.

 

"There's still a lot to do," Blaine commented, moving further into the room and running his fingertips along the windowsill as he looked out through the window a moment before stepping back from it. "And some things that are done but not in here – like the curtains you made, we just haven't gotten the chance to put them up."

 

"No, but we have time," Kurt replied quietly, taking a few steps into the room so he could get the rest of it on film. "Well, hopefully by the next time we record something, we'll have this done and maybe even have a baby."

 

"Oh right, we were talking about finding out the gender!" Blaine turned around to face him, his eyes slightly wide as he looked past the camera to Kurt for a moment before letting his gaze flicker over to the lens. "Did you want to say?"

 

"You can, if you want."

 

"Okay," Blaine said, biting his lip as his grin spread up to make the corners of his eyes crinkle. "Well, we just found out yesterday, but we're having a girl. We almost stopped by the store to get some of those 'It's a Girl!' banners or something, but then we realized we didn't really have a place to put them or a reason to hang them up because she hasn't actually been _born_ yet–"

 

"–plus they were kind of tacky."

 

"Yes, that was more of the actual reason," Blaine admitted, still grinning. "Because we would have kept one up in our living room from then until we brought her home, but they were super tacky." He moved across the room to where Kurt was, taking the camera and turning it on him, clearing his throat softly. "So now that we know that we're having a little girl, do you want to remind our future selves what they decided to name their daughter?"

 

"We'd had names figured out for either gender," Kurt started, bringing his hand up to run through his hair and push it back from his forehead, more of an absent gesture than an attempt to style it in any way since that was how it was normally anyway. "That was an endeavor that had taken more than a few name books with lots of little post-it tabs and highlighters, and the fact that we narrowed it down at all was a miracle. It might have been just as difficult as finding a surrogate."

 

"But we managed."

 

"Yes, we managed, and we settled on a name." Kurt drew in a breath as he looked past the camera to Blaine, and then let his eyes move back to meet it. "Elizabeth. Elizabeth Grace."

 

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

 

"Indeed," Kurt said with a soft smile. "So that's our news, and next time... well, unless something comes up, next time we'll have another member of our family with us."

 

––––––––––––

 

"Okay, here we go," Blaine started as he turned on the camera, speaking quietly and settling into a chair as he held the camera in his hand and extended it far enough to be able to get himself in frame. "It's been a whirlwind week."

 

He tilted his head back as if to stretch out his neck, his eyes closing briefly before he let them flutter open again to look into the lens. "There were some fake contractions, and then some more, and then our darling Elizabeth decided to wait until a few days after her due date to _actually_ bless us with her presence, but... she finally did."

 

A tired smile broke out across his features, and Blaine bit the inside of his lip as he huffed out a laugh. "Katie, our surrogate, is a champion. She was wonderful throughout the whole pregnancy, but having all that happening within the past week, I couldn't imagine having my body doing those kinds of things to me, and then actually _giving birth_... she's a champion.

 

"When we got the call in the middle of the night that it was happening, I think we forgot everything we'd planned to do for when the time came. We'd had a list of things we were going to bring, people we needed to make sure to call, all that kind of thing... and it just didn't happen. It was partially that we'd just woken up, and then also that rush of needing to get to the hospital as fast as possible... I'm just proud that we both managed to put on clothes that matched. But we got there with plenty of time to spare, and then our daughter was born."

 

Blaine paused as he looked past the camera for a moment, peering at something before turning his attention back to what he was doing, a slow smile spreading and turning up the corners of his mouth. "She's _beautiful._ We knew she would be, I mean – well, Katie was just a gestational surrogate so her genetics weren't involved, but even if they had been she's a gorgeous woman – but she's Kurt's so... of course she was going to be the most beautiful baby in the world because... yeah."

 

He exhaled slowly before shifting in the chair, moving to get up and stand, stretching out his arms and legs before holding the camera to get himself in frame again as he started to walk away from where he'd been sitting.

 

"I think it's only right that you see her, because she really is the cutest most adorable baby that I've ever seen, and even the nurses at the hospital were saying so, which means it has to be true – they see a lot of babies all the time, and while I'm sure they tell everyone their babies are cute, I could tell they _really_ meant it when they were talking to us." Blaine huffed out a soft laugh and grinned at the camera before glancing down to watch his step as he moved up the stairs to get to the next floor. "They'd have to, because she's the cutest."

 

The room at the top of the stairs was dimly lit, and Blaine turned the camera around as he walked into it, focusing on where Kurt was sitting in a recliner, his legs stretched out in front of him as he looked down at the infant he was cradling in his arms. As Blaine got closer, it was easy to see that she was sleeping, swaddled in a blanket and nestled in close against his chest. Kurt glanced up as Blaine got closer, offering him a smile before looking down to their daughter again.

 

"She was a little fussy but as soon as I sat down she just... conked out," Kurt murmured, bringing up his hand to gently brush his thumb against the apple of her cheek. He leaned down, pressing the softest kiss against her forehead, and his gaze stayed fixed on her as she wriggled slightly when he sat back up. "She's so cute."

 

"Mhmm. Dear world, we're pleased to introduce you to Elizabeth Grace Anderson-Hummel."

 

"So pleased."

 

"She looks like you," Blaine said softly, leaning against the side of the chair so he could angle the camera down over Kurt's shoulder to be able to focus on her face as he reached down and ran his fingertips along the blanket she was wrapped in. "She has your long, long legs, and your nose, and I'm sure before long she'll be able to work those eyebrows like you do..."

 

"Her poor future teachers," Kurt replied with a quiet laugh. "They'd better be on their game or she'll be giving them _such_ looks all the time."

 

"Well rightfully so if they're deserving of them." Blaine let his fingertips trace down to where Kurt's hand was resting, and he laced his fingers over Kurt's. "I don't want to think about her being school aged, yet. Let's just focus on the little tiny baby that's sleeping right here for now."

 

"I like that," Kurt agreed, nodding once and then glancing up to Blaine. "She's so little, I almost feel like I'm going to break her if I move."

 

"You won't break her, you're doing fine. You haven't broken her yet, and you're in a completely different spot than when I went downstairs. You were the one that brought her up here in the first place, even."

 

"True..."

 

"So don't worry so much," Blaine murmured, shifting slightly so he could lean in and press a kiss against Kurt's temple. "Just look at you – you got her to settle down and go to sleep when she was being fussy. You're an amazing dad."

 

"Thanks, honey."

 

"I think it's time to end this for now," Blaine continued, moving the camera up from where it had been resting and lifting it to be able to get all three of them in the shot together. "Because Elizabeth is sleeping and neither of us have had dinner, so it's about that time..."

 

"Until next time," Kurt said as he looked up at the camera, offering it another smile before turning his attention back to Elizabeth as the camera turned off.

 

––––––––––––

 

“Alright so we have to be very quiet,” Kurt murmured, adjusting the camera slightly as he turned it on and looking into the lens before smiling softly. “Because there’s some sleeping going on, but it’s just too cute not to see.”

 

He stood up and moved through the house, his feet barely making a sound as he tiptoed up the stairs from where he’d been, turning the camera around so it could see where he was going as he made his way down the hall and into the master bedroom. The main light was off, but the lamp on the bedside table was on, giving just enough illumination to let the camera see Blaine sitting on the bed, leaning back against the pillows so he could stay up and not be sitting back against the hardness of the headboard, and he had Elizabeth laying up against his chest, her arms stretching up and fingers tangled into the fabric of his shirt. As if that wasn’t enough, Harry was curled up on his lap just below where his arm was holding up Elizabeth, purring and barely awake himself.

 

“It’s just so, so cute,” Kurt whispered, moving around the side of the bed so he could get closer to them, the camera briefly capturing how relaxed Blaine’s features were as he breathed deeply, sound asleep, before it panned down to zoom in on Elizabeth’s tiny fingers and the way they were clutching at his shirt. “She’s just holding on so tight…”

 

Kurt reached down and let one of his fingertips move over the back of her hand, brushing against her skin and pausing for a moment when she fidgeted, yawning so big and stretching her fingers before settling in against Blaine’s chest, clinging onto him again. He traced up her arm and then down her back, bringing in the rest of his fingers to scritch gently against the fabric of her onesie before pulling his hand back completely.

 

“I really don’t know what to do with all this,” Kurt murmured as he moved back from the bed and turned the camera to face him again, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door most of the way to keep from disturbing them. “I mean, as if having the cutest husband in the world wasn’t enough, then we got this adorable cat, and now we have the most beautiful baby girl – and all of them are in there cuddling together.”

 

He huffed out a soft laugh and shook his head, biting his lip as he grinned. “I know at some point I’ll need to go in there and disrupt them somehow, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to, it’s just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I just want to capture that in a bottle and keep it forever, which… I guess that’s kind of what this is. So maybe not quite a bottle, but it’s close enough, so…”

 

Giving a small nod to the camera, Kurt nudged the door back open and went into the bedroom, setting up the camera so it was pointed to where Blaine was sitting on the bed. Once he was sure it was secure, he moved over and shed his button up shirt, keeping his undershirt on as he crawled up onto the bed, pulling his pillow down slightly and lying down next to Blaine, his arm curling over Blaine’s legs just below where Harry was curled up.

 

Kurt fell asleep with the camera running, and it kept recording them all sleeping until Blaine blinked his eyes open a while later, sleepily looking down to where Kurt was and reaching down with his free hand to pet at his hair briefly before he woke up enough to notice the camera. He smiled softly, tilting his chin down so he could press a soft kiss against Elizabeth’s forehead, and then brought his hand up from Kurt’s head to give the camera a little wave before reaching over and find the record button on the camera and turn it off.


	12. Chapter 12

"I suppose we should..."

 

Blaine let the camera pan across the room, unfamiliar and pristine, before settling on Kurt, who was lounging on a couch against the wall. He glanced up toward Blaine and wrinkled his nose slightly at the camera before the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile and he let his gaze move beyond the camera itself and more toward the person holding it. Blaine just took a few steps further into the room and Kurt huffed out a soft laugh.

 

"You weren't even planning on warning me? Thanks, darling..."

 

"Well, we were just talking about it so I figured it wasn't going to be _that_ much of a surprise," Blaine replied, and Kurt hummed in response as Blaine moved across the room toward him, sitting on the couch and turning the camera around to face them both. "So... where are we, Kurt?"

 

"We're in Paris," Kurt said, turning his head as he leaned in to press a lingering kiss against Blaine's cheek. "Which, it isn't the first time here for either of us, but definitely the first time we've been here together or for any amount of time that isn't work related."

 

"Right, because how many fashion weeks have you been beckoned to here?" Blaine asked innocently, and Kurt reached over to tickle his side just enough for Blaine to laugh and almost drop the camera, but he managed to keep a grip on it despite how it bobbled around for a few seconds. "What? You've been to a lot and I am very, very proud of my highly in demand and extremely fashionable husband."

 

"I've been to my fair share, yes, but those are stressful times and not exactly good for exploring the city or anything like that."

 

"Yes, and I've been here a time or two with tours, or press events, but not as much as you – and the same type of situation where there hasn't been time to myself," Blaine continued, tilting his head to rest it against Kurt's shoulder. "And _why_ are we here?"

 

"We're here to celebrate our anniversary," Kurt answered, dipping his head down to nuzzle in against Blaine's hair for a moment before turning his attention back to the camera. "Our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, a number that makes me feel _old_."

 

"You're not old," Blaine admonished, sitting up straight again to look over at him. "You're not anywhere close to old, and I don't know if you've noticed this, Kurt, but you're just like the finest wine because you keep getting better with age – I swear, every year that goes by, you get more and more stunning."

 

Kurt huffed out a chuckle, leaning over to press a kiss against the corner of Blaine's mouth with a quietly murmured 'thank you.'

 

"I'm not kidding," Blaine said, catching his mouth before he could pull back and pressing a long, firm kiss against his lips. "It's so true. You look incredible, and more incredible every year, and when that first gorgeous streak of silver showed up in your hair, I thought I was going to die."

 

"So did I, but I think we're talking about different reasons," Kurt joked, wrinkling his nose but with a smile still easily spread across his features. "Though I will say, I prefer the little hints of silver over the potential of becoming my dad – the day I start going bald is the day I start a lifelong trend of wearing fashionable hats everywhere and for everything."

 

"You're not going bald, you're just turning into a silver fox – and I completely support that."

 

"Are we going to mention your salt and pepper stubble situation? Because I don't think you're that far behind me on the silver fox bandwagon."

 

"Listen, are we going to sit here and argue about our hair turning silver and grey or are we going to focus on the real reason that we're here?" Blaine asked, grinning softly as Kurt leaned in to kiss him again before looking over to the camera with a sigh. "Okay, good."

 

"I mean, we're going to try to keep from doing super touristy things, but neither of us have done any of those before when we've been here so it feels a little like we should check them off our list together," Kurt said, giving a small nod. "Starting with getting the best hotel room with the most amazing view."

 

"That might not be too touristy in itself, but the view kind of is..."

 

Blaine pushed up from the couch and turned the camera away from himself as he walked across the room to get to a pair of glass doors that led out onto a terrace – a quite sizable terrace with a pair of couches and some tables, topiaries in pots, and a view over the rooftops of the city that clearly displayed the Eiffel Tower not too far away. He moved to a good spot where there wasn't anything on the terrace blocking the view, and hummed absently to himself as he zoomed in on the landmark, letting the camera stay steady on it for a long few seconds before zooming out again as footsteps coming toward him got picked up. The camera jostled slightly as he turned it around and Kurt had joined him, arms wrapped around him from behind and his cheek pressed in against Blaine's.

 

"So how about that view?" Kurt asked in a murmur, quirking an eyebrow at the camera, and Blaine grinned softly. "I don't think we could have found a better place if we'd tried."

 

"It's a really nice hotel," Blaine agreed, glancing back toward the door before tilting his head so he could look at Kurt. "Lizzie was so mad she couldn't come when she saw the pictures. She wanted to sleep out here and wake up every morning to see the Eiffel Tower first thing."

 

"We told her it wasn't going anywhere, so if she _was_ coming she would have been able to sleep _inside_ and it would still be there when she woke up, but she never really got past the part where she wasn't coming with us, so..."

 

"She's fine, she'll get over it," Blaine said with a laugh, shaking his head. "I think she stopped being mad when she found out she was getting to spend the time while we were away with Uncle Cooper and his gang of children. While I'm glad that she was excited, and that she has a lot of stuff to do while we're gone, I'm scared to think about what she's going to be like when we get her back from them."

 

"She'll probably point a lot and talk loudly," Kurt replied dryly, rolling his eyes at the camera and dipping his head down to rest his chin on Blaine's shoulder. "But on the bright side, at least we'll know when she means things – because she'll point – and when she's being intense."

 

"I don't want to think about that, nope, I don't. I think maybe we should have found someone else to keep an eye on her while we were away. Santana would have been a better choice..."

 

"That is _not_ true," Kurt laughed, closing his eyes as he tilted his head to press a kiss against the side of Blaine's neck. "Cooper isn't bad! He's just... exuberant. That's one of the things Lizzie likes most about him, because he's always been like this cartoon character."

 

"I know, I know, it'll just be an interesting few days when we get back and she's fresh out of the Cooper Anderson nuthouse. I'm sure the crazy will wear off quickly enough."

 

Kurt nuzzled up against the underside of Blaine's jaw and closed his eyes with a content sigh, holding him back against his chest for a long moment before letting his eyes flutter open again and look out in the direction of the Eiffel Tower before shifting up to focus on the camera again. The sunlight caught in the silver streak in his hair, near the front but hidden slightly by the way his hair was styled, for the briefest second before he stood up straighter and the light lost it in the shift.

 

"Well as fun as it is to consider what our daughter is going to be like when we get her back from your brother, I believe we're on a vacation and we're here to relax and see the sights and not worry so much about what's going on back on our home continent..."

 

"You're right, we should be being selfish and only thinking about ourselves," Blaine teased, and Kurt slid his hand down to tickle his side again. "I was _joking_! I know we already called to let them know we made it and she looked fine and was more than happy to abandon our call to go off and help _Uncle Coop_ make cookies for dinner, so it's not like I'm _actually_ worried about her – not that much, anyway."

 

"So what are we going to do today, Mr. Anderson-Hummel?"

 

"Well I was thinking we could go for a walk, because it's such a beautiful day," Blaine replied, tilting his head back to rest on Kurt's shoulder as he looked up at him. "Plus I think going for a walk around here could prove very interesting, as there are so many wonderful things to see."

 

"We're not too far from the Arc de Triomphe, and then there's the Eiffel Tower to see as well, and we have tickets to see the opera but that's not for a few days yet..."

 

"I know we're going to do _everything_ so it's just a matter of what to do first, which is why we thought taking a walk would be a good way to start..."

 

"Well we have plenty of time," Kurt said, his hand sliding up over Blaine's chest to curl his fingers around his shoulder, turning his head to press a kiss against his temple. "So what do you say we get started? I mean, now that we've taken a little nap to get past our jetlag and gotten cleaned up and in clothes we didn't wear on an airplane..."

 

"Until later, future selves."

 

––––––––––––

 

Kurt turned the camera on and gave it a soft smile before glancing above it, his brow furrowing slightly at the muffled sound of Blaine talking – words indiscernible on the camera but he was clearly able to understand them because he nodded before glancing down into the lens again.

 

"So today is our _actual_ anniversary," he murmured, the corners of his mouth turning up a little more as he settled in on the couch and kept the camera held out to be able to keep himself in frame. "And it's been a beautiful day. We stayed in bed as long as we could before we felt like we were wasting the fact that we're in France, then went down to the little bakery on the corner and got croissants for breakfast, because they have these chocolate filled ones that have been still warm every day we've gone to get them, and then ate them while we walked down the street and just enjoyed being _here_."

 

He paused, shifting slightly to get more comfortable before turning his attention back to the camera. "I know we live in New York, and it's a big city and is full of monuments and landmarks and things to see, but there's something about Paris that is so entirely different that I can't even begin to describe how perfect it is to be here. I'm sure it's partially the vacation aspect, and the fact that we're here to celebrate, and maybe I wouldn't  feel like this if we lived here because then it would all be old hat much like New York is – because I'm sure people feel the exact same way when they visit there, but I still think this is different. There's so much more history and a completely different type of culture... it's beautiful and wonderful and I'm so glad we came.

 

"So we just wandered for most of the day, though not without purpose. We saved Versailles for today and spent a lot of time wandering around the gardens before coming back here and getting room service delivered so we could eat dinner out on the terrace and watch the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle on the hour, because what better way to eat dinner than in the comfort of our temporary home and with a view like _that_? Then we got dressed to the nines and went to the opera, because we wanted to do something truly special to mark the occasion, and saw _Die Fledermaus_ – which was incredible and the singing was inspiring and it made me want go see it again because that entire cast was just phenomenal."

 

"We got a backstage tour," Blaine added as he moved to the couch and settled in beside Kurt, offering a smile to the camera before leaning in to press a kiss to Kurt's cheek. "That was very nice of them to do for us, and we got to meet so many of the cast – they were all wonderful and friendly and we probably could have stayed there talking to them all night if not for the fact that it was getting late and I'm sure they had places to go, as did we."

 

"We just had here, but here is important and ours."

 

"Here has our plans for the rest of the night," Blaine said, motioning past the camera, and Kurt turned it to capture what he was indicating.

 

A laptop sat on the coffee table in front of them, and Blaine leaned forward to open it and wake up the screen from what he'd been doing before. There was a media player open and a video paused, and he glanced back at the camera for a moment before scooting up to the edge of the cushion to be able to focus on what he was doing on the laptop for a few seconds before being done and turning to be able to look at the camera easier to explain.

 

"So we decided that, well... we've been making these videos and at some point, or some _points_ we should watch them. We never came up with a good plan as to when, and I'm sure the time will be different for each video, but this seemed like a good time to go back and see what things were like? Not for all of them, just one specific one, because it's a special day."

 

"Right, we never decided when to watch any of these. I think we were too caught up in making them, capturing these days and moments, that we never thought about when we would actually want to sit down and watch what we'd done." Kurt paused, and Blaine glanced back at him for a moment before he went on. "Today _is_ special, because it's our anniversary, so we thought what better video to watch than our first anniversary..."

 

"Plus," Blaine added, smiling softly, "I want to see Prince Harry. I miss that fluffball so much sometimes."

 

"It took a long time to get used to him not being there on our bed each morning," Kurt replied, and Blaine nodded in agreement. "He's the only pet we ever had. Well, unless you count Lizzie."

 

"Lizzie was _heartbroken_ when he passed away," Blaine said, shaking his head as a sad expression took over his features. "I didn't think she would ever stop crying."

 

"It's amazing how well daddy cuddles work to cure even the worst sadness ever," Kurt mused, causing Blaine's eyes to brighten slightly as he smiled. "We're fortunate to have double the daddy cuddles in our arsenal than most people – though I'm sure mommy cuddles work wonders, too."

 

"Anyway," Blaine cut in, huffing out a soft laugh. "That's what we wanted to do tonight, we wanted to watch that video, so that's what we're going to do."

 

"We'll be back in a bit..."

 

––––––––––––

 

The camera turned on again, this time sitting facing the couch and aimed up toward them as Blaine leaned back from pressing record and making sure it wasn't going to fall over. They sat close, hands linked and resting on Kurt's thigh as Blaine leaned in against his side and let his head rest against Kurt's shoulder as he looked up at him through his eyelashes.

 

"We looked so little," Kurt murmured, then tilted his head in thought. "No, not little – young."

 

"We _were_ young," Blaine replied softly, his thumb rubbing over the back of Kurt's hand. "Young and really excited about getting a cat."

 

"He was the _best_ cat," Kurt said with a laugh, shaking his head. "He was. I'd forgotten about those other ones that we played with while we were there, because he was so perfect for us that as soon as we had him, it was like he was the only cat we'd seen the entire day."

 

"And we came close to buying out the pet store on the way home because there were just so many toys and they were all the cutest things that he would probably love so of course we _had_ to get them..."

 

"He was a _spoiled_ cat."

 

"His name was _Prince Harry_ ," Blaine replied dryly, his nose scrunching slightly before he chuckled and let his chin tuck down so he could look to the camera again. "He was bound to be spoiled, and adored, and made to wear ridiculous outfits every now and again..."

 

"Well that's all very true," Kurt agreed, tilting his head to rest against Blaine's as he sighed softly. "I do miss him. It was always nice to wake up with him tucked against you somewhere, just so content as long as he was close to you."

 

"He was so good with Lizzie," Blaine added, smiling softly. "He let her carry him around, even when she was barely big enough to pick him up, just carry him around with her even when his little paws would drag on the ground a little because she was so short... he never tried to scratch her or bite her when she would accidentally poke him or try to get her dolls to ride on his back..."

 

"Harry was a very tolerant cat. She was never _mean_ to him, she was very gentle, even when she was really little."

 

"I'm really glad we found him," Blaine said quietly. "He was the perfect addition to our family when we got him, and he lived for much longer than I ever expected a cat to live... and sometimes I still expect him to be there when I wake up in the morning, waiting for me to wake up so he can climb onto my chest and rub his face against mine like it was the best thing that ever happened, me waking up so he could let me know that he loved me."

 

"...do you want me to rub my face against yours in the morning?" Kurt asked teasingly, dipping his head down to rub his cheek against Blaine's, just enough for both of them to laugh. "Because I usually just use my words to let you know that I love you, but..."

 

"Shhh I was just fondly remembering our perfect cat," Blaine replied, swatting his leg lightly with his free hand. "If you really want to nuzzle me in the mornings, I will have no complaints whatsoever."

 

"I'll keep that in mind," Kurt said with a chuckle, shaking his head and sighing softly. "Well, my wonderful husband..."

 

"It's about time to call it a night, huh?"

 

"At least in terms of this. We have a bottle of champagne the hotel sent up for us, so the night is still young – or at least relatively young, considering we're not exactly spring chickens anymore..."

 

"Goodnight, future selves," Blaine said as he leaned forward toward the camera, pausing once his hand was on it and he was still far enough away to be in frame as he looked down into it. "I hope you remember Harry as fondly as we do, and I hope you've had many more wonderful anniversary adventures by the time you see this, whenever that may be."


	13. Chapter 13

When the camera turned on, it was aimed at the ground – or more specifically, at two pairs of fashionable and perfectly shined shoes. It took a few seconds for it to be moved, and then it was pointed up toward a stage where there was clearly a commencement ceremony going on, all graduation robes and mortarboards on the students walking across one at a time as their names were announced, shaking hands as they were handed a diploma, and then disappearing off the other side for the next to come.

 

"I can see her," Kurt murmured from beside the camera, and the view shifted slightly as Blaine moved to be able to get a better shot of the stage. "I think her mortarboard is coming unpinned in the back."

 

"No, it looks fine," Blaine replied quietly, zooming in on the students lined up, more specifically on Elizabeth. "She's just going to end up taking it off to throw it in the air anyway..."

 

Whatever Kurt's concerns were with his daughter's hat, it looked firmly secured in place as she took small steps forward with each of her classmates stepping up ahead of her to cross the stage. Her gaze flitted out to the audience and straight over to where they were sitting, her fingers wiggling slightly at her side in a sort of wave as she gave them a soft smile before turning her attention back to the fact that there was only one person left in front of her before it was her turn to cross the stage and get her diploma.

 

"Elizabeth Grace Anderson-Hummel."

 

"Yeah, Lizzie! Woo!"

 

The cheers from behind the camera barely held off for her entire name to be announced, and she gave a look over in their direction that was probably meant to be one of annoyance but it didn't work that well with the grin spreading across her features at the same moment. She crossed the stage over to the principal who was handing everyone their diplomas and shook his hand, her head held high, and she made it the rest of the way across the stage before she spared another fleeting glance out toward where they were sitting, pumping her fist up in the air before she disappeared off to the side and the camera turned off.

 

––––––––––––

 

"Alright, consider this payback."

 

Elizabeth stared straight into the camera as she fidgeted with it to make sure it would stay in place as she sat back, her brow furrowed in concentration until she was convinced it wasn't going to fall over, and then she quickly smiled and dropped her hands down into her lap.

 

"This is... weird. I don't know how you guys always do this and don't feel weird about it, but I guess you've been doing it so long that it doesn't seem strange to you. I have no idea if you'll find this right away once you get home or if you'll just stumble across it years down the road, but I felt like I needed to do this. It's my only real chance to, since you went down to talk to the hall director at my dorm and I'm sure that'll take you a while because you'll be making sure everything is going to be perfect and safe even though we _already_ talked to the RA and said hi to the hall director on the way up and it's _Harvard_ so I'm sure it's going to be fine."

 

She rolled her eyes but the smile turning up the corners of her mouth stayed in place as she brought up her hand to tuck her hair back behind her ears. "So we just moved me into my dorm! And my roommate isn't here yet, which meant I got to claim which side of the room I wanted and figure out how I wanted to arrange it all..."

 

Leaning forward, she picked up the camera and got up from the chair, stepping backward until she was standing in the doorway and could capture the entire room – both the bare half closest to the door and what was clearly her side, with the bed made and pictures already hung on the wall. She panned across the room to get it all before moving back inside and shifting to sit on her bed, leaning back against the pillows and pulling her legs up until her feet were flat on the bed so she could rest the camera on her knees.

 

"I'm going to miss you," she said softly, biting her lip and glancing down into her lap before looking back up to the camera and giving a small shrug. "I'm really excited to be here and I already love it, but I miss my room – god, I haven't even been here a _day_ yet and I'm already saying that!" She scrunched up her nose and shook her head before huffing out a sigh. "I love this place. I loved it the second we came here on a college visit and I knew this was where I wanted to go, but it'll take a while to get used to how different it is. I have to get used to sharing a room with someone, and how it sounds different when I'm just sitting here quietly and listening to what's going on outside.

 

"I keep expecting to hear one of you singing, or playing the piano, or doing _something_ like I always can if I'm sitting in my room at home. Not that you're _loud_ but you know what I mean. I think that's probably what I'm going to miss the most, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Who knows? Maybe I'll just miss my giant closet and being able to cook my own food in an actual kitchen instead of getting super creative with a microwave."

 

There was another pause as she looked over to the door, letting her hair fall out from behind her ear as she tilted her head and glanced back to the camera.

 

"I guess I wanted to make a video to say... thank you? I know I wouldn't be here if I hadn't had such amazing dads. I wasn't always the easiest to deal with, I know that for sure when I think back, but neither of you ever got mad, ever yelled, ever did anything but be patient and just... the _best_ dads in the world. You put up with me wanting to try and be the best at everything, and gave me the most support even when it was something stupid like me trying to play soccer when I just was _not_ actually good at any kind of sport but I'd fallen in love with some player I'd seen during the Olympics and wanted to be just like her.

 

"You were never too busy for me, and I _know_ you were way busier than a lot of parents because none of my friends from school had parents that traveled the world or were interviewed for anything, but none of that ever mattered when we were home and together and we could just sit there and talk about what book I'd been reading for my literature class or how much I wasn't understanding the assignments in my math class."

 

Elizabeth glanced down when there was a beeping sound coming from her pocket, and she shifted to pull out her phone and look at the screen before setting it to the side and giving a small shake of her head before smiling again as she looked to the camera.

 

"So yeah, thanks. Thank you for giving me every opportunity to succeed, and that includes this right now because it's _Harvard_ and the last thing I want to do is go here and somehow fail, especially after I applied to so many places and finally got accepted and it's this amazing school, so the last thing I want to do is ever let you down in any way. It's... a dream come true to be here, and I already miss you both even though you haven't left yet, so I just wanted to say thank you for being the best dads I ever could have asked for, and I'm going to do everything I can to make you proud. I love you."

 

––––––––––––

 

"It's so quiet."

 

Blaine looked down into the camera before glancing over to Kurt beside him, his brow furrowing slightly. "I didn't think about how that would be."

 

"Of course it's quiet, it's... well, there's one less person living here. And let's be honest, out of the three of us, Lizzie was the loudest."

 

"She's a teenager, of course she was the loudest," Blaine replied with a huff of laughter, shaking his head and looking back to the camera. "This is our first night home after taking Lizzie up to college, and it's.... weird."

 

"We've had nights here without her before," Kurt said, tilting his head to look at Blaine as he thought for a long moment before continuing with his train of thought. "I mean, she's slept over at friend's houses and spent weekends away at either of our parents' houses, or Cooper's, but I think for every one of those times there's been another one where her friends have stayed _here_ and that's canceled out the quiet of her not being here for a night or two at a time. It feels much different this time, because it's... permanent."

 

"It's not _permanent_." Blaine spoke quickly, as if convincing himself of what he was saying as he did. "She'll be back for breaks and during the summer, so it's not like she'll never be here again."

 

"No, that's not what I mean, I just meant... this isn't just for a few days, this is... she's at _college._ "

 

There was a long pause of silence from them both as they sat, not looking at the camera or each other, just idly staring at spots in the distance as they both let that sink in. Kurt shifted absently, propping himself up more against the pillows between his back and the headboard of their bed, his gaze flickering over to watch Blaine, who took a few seconds longer to recover before he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to what they were doing.

 

"That's right," Blaine started. "Our baby girl is off at college and is going to take that place by storm. They aren't going to know what hit them."

 

"I think they might have a slight warning after we moved her up there, considering how much we talked to anyone of authority we could find."

 

"Well..."

 

"Listen, I don't care if it's _Harvard,_ we just wanted to know that everything was going to be perfect for Lizzie and that she was going to have the best possible setting and living situation for the basis of her education, that's all – especially considering how much tuition is to go there, I mean really."

 

"Right, thankfully it's not like we're particularly _hurting_ for money and we were sure to have a college fund started for her when she was born so we'd been setting all that aside from the get go, but damn if college tuition has gone up like crazy since we were going to school."

 

"Neither of us went anywhere Ivy League," Kurt pointed out, and gave a shrug. "Not that it matters, because we weren't exactly going into fields where that would have given much heft behind what we were doing, but it's where she wanted to go and she got the grades to get accepted and so that's where she is."

 

"Mhmm, and we had the most Harvard-fied graduation party for her – I think we're going to have crimson napkins until she's graduated from there, too, if not longer."

 

"Well if there's one thing we know how to do, it's throw a party for her, as all of her birthday parties across the years can attest."

 

"I can't believe she's there already," Blaine said with a sigh, letting his head tilt back to rest against the headboard. "It'll take a lot of getting used to, not being able to go down the hall to her room and find her there, or going downstairs and finding her sprawled out on the living room floor with all her homework scattered around her in some studying system I never quite figured out but that always worked really well for her."

 

"It's just you and me now," Kurt murmured, nudging their shoulders together. "Or I guess I should say, it's just you and me again. That's not a _horrible_ thing."

 

"Oh I _suppose_ I could get used to that," Blaine replied, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek before dotting a few more along his jaw and the corner of his mouth. "We may not have our daughter running around the house anymore, but on the plus side, we... don't have our daughter running around the house anymore. You know what that means?"

 

"That there are going to be far less tears shed in this house? That there will be less laundry to do? Oh, I know, that the need to have black raspberry chip ice cream in the freezer is no more because you and I are much more peanut butter cup and chocolate chip cookie dough types of people?"

 

Blaine gave Kurt a look, and he just grinned in response. "No, that's not what I meant." 

 

"Well those are all true things," Kurt said, shrugging a shoulder and leaning over to press a kiss against his lips. "But I think I know what you meant."

 

"It's just you and me," Blaine murmured, bringing his free hand up to cup Kurt's jaw and letting his thumb brush against his cheek. "Like it was before, except now we're older... but I don't think that's a bad thing."

 

"Of course it's not a bad thing, we're incredible aged guys. I mean, make no mistake, we were definitely the hottest dads up there at Harvard helping our kid move in. There were absolutely some moms checking you out."

 

"I saw a few moms ogling you!" Blaine leaned in, kissing him again and letting his hand linger against his jaw before slowly pulling it back and dropping it into his lap. "I can't blame them in the least, of course."

 

"Poor ladies, so unknowing."

 

"You know what I think we should do?"

 

Kurt tilted his head to look over at Blaine more closely, clearly not startled by the change in topic but trying to figure out what it might be before responding. "What?"

 

"Well, we're all on our own, no one to look after but ourselves..."

 

"I mean, I'd assumed we were going to have sex, but I didn't think we were going to discuss it on camera."

 

" _Kurt_ , that's not what I was talking about," Blaine replied with a laugh, shaking his head. "I mean, _yes_ , but I meant besides that."

 

"Oh, well then enlighten me."

 

"We moved out here so long ago, and I think it would be nice to go back to where we came from – not all of it or anything, but just going back to places that meant something to us. I was thinking about how we don't really have any plans for tomorrow and I thought maybe it would be nice to take a trip down memory lane. Our coffee shop near the old apartment is still in business, and I know that's a long way to go for a cup of coffee, but..."

 

"No, that's perfect," Kurt murmured, biting his lip and glancing down to his lap before letting his gaze flicker up to the camera and then over to meet Blaine's. "We haven't been back there since we moved and we always said we would go, it's just that we both got so busy and it's not on the way toward anywhere that was go, so we never... we just never got back."

 

"It doesn't seem like something important compared to other places we could go, I know that, but it was important to _us_ ," Blaine went on, clearing his throat and giving a more determined glance to the camera. "It's someplace that we always went, without fail, and it was a place that we'd worked so hard to find in the first place when we moved. It felt like a second home when we were living at the apartment, and I know we have an amazing coffee shop here that has been ours for way longer than the one back in Manhattan, but that was someplace that was so special and there's nothing that could ever replace that."

 

"It's important to us," Kurt repeated, giving a nod and tilting his head in to press a lingering kiss against Blaine's cheek. "It's a _very_ important place, considering everything it gave us. We haven't been back since we moved out here and that feels like a betrayal of some sort. We meant to go, but we didn't."

 

"I'm sure they got that all the time, with people becoming regulars and then moving out of the neighborhood, but I still feel bad about it."

 

"I do too, now that I'm thinking on it, and that just makes me feel even more excited to be going there tomorrow. It feels... I mean, that was such a part of our lives before we were parents, I guess it feels right to be going back now that Lizzie's out of the house and off to college, even though it's not like it's about to become a regular thing again. That's way too far away, both from here and from work, for either of us to make a habit of it again."

 

"Right, it's not like we're going to be going there all the time again, I just thought it would be nice to go tomorrow – our first morning on our own without her here with us. It feels like it would bring us full circle, almost. We made so many important decisions there, I mean, that's where we talked about moving, where we pulled up housing options on our phones and looked at them across the table and our biscotti... I can't believe we haven't been back."

 

"Tomorrow," Kurt said, kissing his cheek again before nodding and bringing up his hand to rub against Blaine's arm. "We'll wake up tomorrow, miss what it's like to hear Lizzie banging around in her room like a whirlwind trying to get ready to leave the house, and head out to remember what it was like before we had any of this out here. It'll be good, I can't wait."

 

"It's not a Saturday, but it'll do."

 

"It'll do," Kurt confirmed, a smile spreading across his features as he squeezed Blaine's arm and exhaled a soft sigh. "So, since we have the house to ourselves, what say you turn off the camera and we make good use of it?"

 

"I think that sounds like a perfect idea," Blaine replied, leaning over to kiss the corner of Kurt's mouth before giving the camera a grin and turning it off.


	14. Chapter 14

“Alright, we don’t have much time to do this but…”

 

Kurt slid in beside Blaine where he was sitting at the table, coming into frame as he loosened the knot of his tie and cleared his throat softly. Both of them looked as though they’d been dressed formally before they’d sat down and were in some stage of transition between that and getting undressed, though neither anything indecent – it was just in the way that Blaine’s suit jacket was clearly visible hanging off the back of his chair, and how Kurt undid his tie all the way to take it off, undoing the top button of his shirt as looked over to his husband.

 

“It’s true, we probably should have done this sooner than right now,” he said, his nose scrunching slightly before he shrugged a shoulder. “Oh well.”

 

“Well we can’t go back in time, so this will just have to do,” Blaine replied, an easy smile spreading across his features as he looked into the camera again. “So hi.”

 

“Yes, hi.” Kurt let his gaze follow Blaine’s and the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. “Hi…”

 

“Our darling Elizabeth, it’s really hard to realize how grown up you are, sometimes,” Blaine started, pausing and letting his chin tuck down as he thought for a moment before looking up again. “Though I think a good part of that might be denial on my part.”

 

“And mine,” Kurt added, exhaling softly as he shook his head. “The years just flew by, even though some of them felt like they lasted _forever—”_

“We love you, honey, but you were not the easiest thirteen-year-old to have around – but I really don’t think any thirteen-year-old is _particularly_ a joy…”

 

“The point is,” Kurt cut in smoothly, “It’s hard sometimes, to see you and realize that you’re not four-years-old anymore and climbing up into our bed to wake us up because you had a dream that a giant pancake squished our house so you wanted to know if we could have waffles for breakfast instead.”

 

“Exactly. You’re so grown up, but in my head you’re still coming to see my shows and demanding you be dressed in the fanciest outfit you can think of because you know I was going to be all dressed up in my costumes – or having to sit on the counter to be able to help me make cookies, because you were always the best at finding the lumps in the brown sugar and putting in just the right amount of chocolate chips.”

 

“Wearing the cutest little apron.”

 

“The _cutest_ little apron,” Blaine agreed with a nod, huffing out a laugh and shaking his head. “I think we keep getting off track – the point is that you’re not a kid anymore and that’s not the easiest thing for us to remember, even though you haven’t been one for a while now and you haven’t lived here for years – not counting summers home from school because even those you were out and about and not always here.”

 

“That’s why days like today are hard to take in, why _tomorrow_ is going to be even more difficult.”

 

“We _just_ got home from your rehearsal dinner and that’s why we don’t have much time, because we need to get this done and put it with the rest to give to you tomorrow at your wedding.” Blaine paused to draw in a breath, holding it for a long moment before exhaling slowly. “Wow, you’re getting married tomorrow.”

 

“All the planning was such a whirlwind that it _did_ kind of jump out of nowhere,” Kurt said, reaching over to tweak a corner of Blaine’s bow tie. “One day we’re talking about centerpieces for the tables at the reception and next thing you know, we’re giving toasts at the rehearsal dinner.”

 

“I don’t think we said anything _too_ embarrassing, but we _have_ learned over the years that your definition of what is embarrassing is completely different than ours,” Blaine went on, grinning. “So many stories that are adorable and endearing to us seem to be things you find humiliating, but I think we managed to steer clear of most of those tonight, as we will tomorrow, and for years to come… but if you have kids, it’s our duty to tell them everything.”

 

“You’re going to make her never want to have kids if you say stuff like that,” Kurt murmured, but his eyes twinkled slightly as he winked at the camera.

 

“I’m just being honest.”

 

“You’re always going to be our little girl, no matter how grown up you are or what grown up step you’re taking,” Kurt said quietly. “You’ve turned into such a beautiful, successful woman, and while I’ll always know that and be so proud of that, to me, you’re always going to be my little girl, _our_ little girl.”

 

“That’s exactly right,” Blaine agreed, reaching over and sliding his hand into Kurt’s where it was resting on his leg. “You’ve done so much and there’s so much more to come, starting with tomorrow, and that’s all wonderful and important but that’s not going to change the fact that when I look at you, I’m going to see our little Lizzie who liked to wear my bow ties as headbands.”

 

“But tomorrow you’re getting married.”

 

They both fell silent for a long moment and it wasn’t until Kurt sighed out an exhale that either of them even acknowledged the camera again.

 

“You’re getting married,” Kurt repeated, and Blaine nodded as if to confirm what he was saying. “And we are _so_ happy for you, sweetheart. We’re so happy that you found someone that can make you smile in that way that lights up the entire room, and laugh until your face hurts because of it, and who we _know_ loves you just as much as you love him – which is a whole lot because you have one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known.”

 

“I think it says a lot for you, and for Eric, that when you told us you were engaged, there were absolutely no reservations or hesitations from either of us, just… happiness for you. He’s been a part of our family for a couple years already so it only made sense that he would officially join it at some point.”

 

“And tomorrow is that day,” Kurt added, pausing and glancing over to Blaine. “We said we were going to keep this short and we kept rambling.”

 

“Okay, right, well… we can’t really help it, this is all very exciting and also we had wine.”

 

“It is, and we did, and we need to be well rested tomorrow because Lizzie’s getting married.”

 

“You’re getting married!” Blaine said cheerfully as he looked to the camera again, smiling for a moment before huffing out a laugh. “Alright, yes, we should wrap this up… just know that we love you—”

 

“— _so_ much—”

 

“—and we are always going to be right there if you need us, even though you’re all grown up and about to be married.”

 

“Love you, Lizzie.”

 

––––––––––––

 

To say the ceremony was beautiful would have been an insult to just how perfect it had been, but Kurt had no other words to describe it. The ceremony had been beautiful – the perfect mix of sweet and fun, just like Elizabeth herself – and had managed to make every single person in attendance come close to shedding tears if they didn't actually manage to cry. There had never been a point in his life that Kurt had thought any wedding ever, no matter the fact that there had been a royal wedding or two which had been elaborate beyond belief, would top the day that he and Blaine got married, but watching their daughter stand up there with Eric made him rethink that – and if it didn't manage to top their wedding, it definitely came in a close second.

 

Everything went off without a hitch, but considering the amount of planning and coordination that had gone into it in the months leading up, not to mention the wedding planner who was running the show and her staff that kept everyone moving where they needed to be and exactly when they needed to be there, it wasn't surprising that it felt like a well oiled machine.

 

Neither Kurt nor Blaine had made it even partway through the festivities without tears, but they were all tears of happiness.

 

Seeing Elizabeth in her dress for the first time – the dress that _he_ had designed and made for her – with her hair and makeup done and veil in place was the moment that Kurt knew he was done for the day, that there was no way he could put on a brave face and make it through without giving into how his heartstrings were being tugged. Of course he'd seen her wear it before, with the fittings and alterations, but none of those other times had prepared him for seeing her there and then, knowing that it was _the_ time the dress had been made for and that it was finally the day.

 

Blaine had held on only slightly longer than Kurt, because while he didn't have the same visceral reaction to the dress, he was the one that helped her put on the necklace to go with it. As much as there weren't many 'traditions' playing into the wedding, there was at least one that was – something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. The dress was new, but the necklace was old, and it had belonged to Blaine's mother. It wasn't anything fancy, just simple, but simple was exactly what went with the dress and went with Elizabeth herself, because both Kurt and Blaine believed she didn't need anything added on to make her shine or sparkle more than she did on her own. Still, when Blaine stood behind her to clasp her necklace it took him three tries because as soon as he slipped it around her neck, his eyes teared up.

 

It was picturesque from the moment it started to the moment it was over, and the ceremony quickly faded into the reception and there, at least, Kurt figured they would be able to breathe and pull themselves back together after watching their little girl all grown up and getting married.

 

"All the dresses were perfect," Blaine said softly, slipping his arm around Kurt's waist as he came up beside him where Kurt was lurking off to the side to take a break from talking to people. "All the girls looked beautiful."

 

"Thanks, I tried," Kurt murmured, offering him a smile and turning his head to press a kiss against his cheek. "The boys did too, but it's hard to go wrong there. Everyone looks good in a tux."

 

" _That_ is true," Blaine agreed with a chuckle. "Suits and tuxes have a way of transforming even the most casual of person into someone that makes heads turn."

 

"That's why I love them so much. Well, one of the many reasons."

 

"And why wouldn't you?" Blaine paused, his thumb rubbing against Kurt's side over the fabric of his vest, thanks to the fact that his suit jacket had been taken off when they'd moved to the reception. "You know, I think we did a great job."

 

"With this? Lizzie did most of it, though we _did_ do a lot of organizing at the beginning to put her on the right track..."

 

"No, not with this, though that's true as well. I meant with Lizzie."

 

Kurt smiled softly as he tilted his head to rest it against Blaine's, looking out to where their daughter was talking to their new son-in-law, her eyes sparkling as she leaned over to whisper something in his ear, making him laugh and kiss her cheek once she was far enough away again to do it without bumping their heads together. "We did," he said quietly, biting the inside of his lip as his smile turned into a grin. "I don't think we could have asked for a better kid, and she's just turned right into a lady in front of our eyes, hasn't she?"

 

"Mhmm, she sure has," Blaine agreed, clearing his throat and rubbing his fingertips against Kurt's side. "Which reminds me, we need to give her that one present."

 

"Oh, right," Kurt replied, his eyes widening slightly as he pulled away to be able to turn and look at his husband better. "Did you want to go get it and I'll get her?"

 

"Sounds like a plan."

 

They shared a brief kiss before splitting apart, and Kurt watched Blaine disappear off to the room off to the side where they'd move their personal belongings after the ceremony before turning and heading back out into the reception area to steal their daughter away for just a few minutes, promising Eric that he would return her in one piece and definitely before she missed anything too important.

 

"What is it, did I get something on my face?" Elizabeth asked as she followed Kurt toward the room where Blaine had gone. "Or did I get something on the dress? I was being _so_ careful but I _thought_ I'd dropped some icing from the cake – it'll come out, right?"

 

"Sweetheart, you're fine, you don't have anything on your face, or your dress, or in your hair. We just need to give you something."

 

"Oh good, you found her," Blaine said as they went into the room, and Kurt stepped over beside him to straighten his bow tie before turning to look at their daughter, who was looking at both of them expectantly. "So... this isn't your actual wedding present."

 

"I didn't think I was going to get one from you guys because the whole wedding kind of... is a pretty big present already," Elizabeth admitted softly, her brow furrowing slightly. "Not that I thought you wouldn't _want_ to get us something but, I mean, you've already done _so much—_ "

 

"Well we did, but this isn't it," Kurt interrupted smoothly, reaching over to touch her arm reassuringly. "So you'll just have to find out what _that_ is later, but this... this is kind of a little more of something old and something new."

 

Blaine held the wrapped box out to her and she took it automatically, hesitating once it was in her hands but then starting to work the ribbon off it from where it was tied all the way around. It was difficult to do without something to rest it on, so Elizabeth sunk down to kneel on the floor, her skirt poofing out around her as she sat – which made Kurt think it looked like she was sitting in a cloud – and managed to get the ribbon off so she could undo the actual paper itself. Once she had it unwrapped and the box sitting on the ground in front of her, all she had to get through were a few layers of tissue paper and then she got to what was actually inside.

 

"We know that sometimes you probably thought we were crazy," Blaine started, and Kurt's gaze stayed fixed on her as she ran her fingertips along the edge of the box as though she weren't sure if she should touch what was inside. "And you also probably got tired of us video taping nearly everything that happened throughout your life, and our lives, and that's okay, but... it was something we thought was important."

 

" _You_ are important, which is why we wanted to make sure to capture as much of you as possible before you got all grown up and went off to start a life of your own," Kurt added, and Elizabeth's gaze flickered up to meet his. "Which I know you already did when you went off to college and moved out, but today is kind of like the icing on the cake for that one so we figured it was the best time to give this to you."

 

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked quietly, looking down into the box again at the portable hard drive inside. "Or... what's _on_ it?"

 

"It's... you," Blaine answered, his brow furrowing slightly, and Kurt circled his arm around his waist to hug him in against his side as he went on. "Parts of you, at least. It's every birthday you had while you were at home, and piano recitals, dance recitals, Halloweens where you were particularly proud of your costume... which we can't blame you for because those were some _amazing_ costumes you came up with."

 

"Thanks, Dad," she said, looking up at Kurt with a smile, her eyes shining slightly.

 

"Hey, I just made them," Kurt replied, offering her a smile of his own. "You're the one that dreamed them up."

 

"Well you made my dreams come true."

 

Kurt felt his throat aching in the way it had already so many times throughout the day, a telltale sign that he was going to cry, but he wanted to hang on until they were done explaining it all – which they were only halfway through. It was difficult to keep from it, though, with the way she was sitting there looking up at them, looking so small and like his little girl that had wanted to wear a white princess dress for Halloween when she was five and had ended up with what looked like a bridal gown instead.

 

"We know," Kurt murmured, his arm tightening around Blaine's waist, "that you might not have always understood why we did the things we did, but we always had a reason for wanting to remember moments, and it's because of things like this. I know there's no way to capture years or time in a bottle, but at least with this you have a way to look back and see how things were, help you remember all those birthdays and Halloweens and everything else on there. It's nice to be able to see that kind of thing, remember how it felt back then, and it helps you keep hold of who you are and what means something to you."

 

"That's why we wanted to give you a camera, too," Blaine added, nodding down to the box and what else was in it. "You have all these old memories from years ago, from back when you were growing, but now you're all grown up and off to make new memories, and we thought you might want to have the chance to capture those for yourself."

 

"Dad..."

 

"We're not saying you have to, or that even if you do you should be like us about it," Kurt said carefully, looking over to Blaine before turning his gaze back down to where Elizabeth was looking up at them. "I'll just say, I know I've never regretted our choice to make our own time capsule out of the things we've done with our lives. It's easy to lose track of how many videos we've taken – some are thirty seconds and some are half an hour – or what all we've done, or when we should watch them, but the point is that when we _have_ sat down and watched what we've done... it's so wonderful to be able to see those moments, perfectly preserved."

 

"Memory is funny and sometimes it doesn't work right, or the story can change or alter over time, but something like this keeps a much better record and with a much clearer picture." Blaine moved away from Kurt's arm and crouched down in front of Elizabeth, his hand moving out to gently rest against the side of her face. "Whether you decide to do keep your own memories on film or otherwise, you know we'll love you the same either way. We just thought today would be the perfect day to give you this and plant that idea, whether you want to take it or not."

 

Elizabeth let her gaze move over from Blaine and up to Kurt, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye as she reached her hand toward him and motioned for him to move down like how Blaine was, which he did. She nudged the box to the side and wrapped her arms around them, one around each as she leaned forward and rest her cheek against where their shoulders were meeting in the middle. Kurt circled his arm around her and Blaine did the same, pulling her into the hug more than she had been already and letting a few tears of his own fall from his eyes and down against where her hair was perfectly swept up and styled.

 

"I love you," she whispered fiercely, her fingers curling into the fabric of their shirts as she kept holding them in close, and Kurt could feel a wet spot from tears on his shirt where her head was resting. "So much."

 

"We love you too, Lizzie," Blaine murmured, his hand moving up to rub her back lightly, and Kurt tilted his head to press a soft kiss against the top of her head.

 

"Thank you."


	15. Chapter 15

There was a long pause when the camera turned on, and Blaine slowly sat back from how he'd been leaning forward to press the button to record. His brow was furrowed in a way that showed he was concentrating on something, but the corners of his mouth were turned up just enough to prove it wasn't something bad. Kurt, who was sitting beside him, has a similar type of expression – clearly thoughtful but with an undercurrent of something else, and for him it looked akin to shock.

 

"Today was interesting," Blaine started, biting his lip as he looked over to Kurt. "Wouldn't you say?"

 

"I _would_ say," Kurt replied, clearing his throat softly and giving a small shake of his head. "A type of interesting I don't know if I was prepared for..."

 

"It's a happy interesting." Blaine reached over and took Kurt's hand, lacing their fingers together and giving it a squeeze. "There's no debating that."

 

"Mhmm," Kurt agreed, his gaze flickering down to where their hands were joined before glancing up to him. "It is, I guess I just hadn't been expecting it? It wasn't something that had really crossed my mind before, but now..."

 

"Now it's happening, so it's all going to be right there in your head for a while," Blaine supplied, a soft grin spreading across his features before he looked over the camera again. "Anyway, we had a visit from our wonderful daughter and son-in-law this evening."

 

"Lizzie had called a week ago to ask if they could come for dinner this week a night that we were free, under the guise of missing us."

 

"I'm sure that wasn't a lie," Blaine murmured with a chuckle. "It might not have been the underlying reason that she wanted to come, but I'm sure she genuinely did – we haven't had a chance to sit down for dinner all together in a while."

 

"Alright, yes, I'm sure she would have wanted to come to have dinner at some point either way," Kurt conceded with an airy wave of his free hand. "The point is that the _real_ reason she wanted to see us is much more than her missing us."

 

Blaine leaned forward again to reach for something that was sitting on the table off to the side of the camera, and then sat back with it held between his fingers so he could look down at it before letting go of Kurt's hand to be able to hold it up in front of the camera so it could be captured in frame.

 

"This is a sonogram," he said, shifting his fingers up so he could hold onto the top corners of the image and leave the rest visible. " _This_ is why Lizzie and Eric came to have dinner with us tonight."

 

"I don't know how I feel about being a grandpa," Kurt said quietly, but with an obvious hint of teasing in his voice. "No, I... I still have trouble realizing that Lizzie isn't a kid anymore, and now she's on her way to having a kid of her own... I think I'm still having a little trouble wrapping my mind around that even though I am _so_ happy for them."

 

"She was so excited to tell us," Blaine added, bringing the sonogram down from in front of the camera and setting it on his lap, turning it so it was facing the right way for him to be able to look down at it. "Maybe a little nervous, too, but mostly excited. I think she just couldn't wait any longer, because she'd said they wanted to wait until they got past the first trimester... and then they had this sonogram and she wasn't sure how to show it to us but she figured the easiest way was just to give it to us."

 

"She's always been so good with words." Kurt looked over at the sonogram and let his hand drift over to trace his fingers along the edge of it. "I think that shows just how excited she was, that she was struggling with them a little when she told us."

 

"Well I know we tripped and stumbled over our words when we were telling our parents that we were having a baby, so maybe it's genetic," Blaine teased, nudging Kurt's shoulder lightly. "Or it's just natural, no matter how good someone is with words."

 

"Either way, this is what happened today... we got this amazing news."

 

Kurt glanced up at the camera again, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth and spreading enough to make the corners of his eyes crinkle. Blaine looked the same, smiling broadly enough that it reached his eyes as he tucked his chin down toward his chest to look at the sonogram on his lap as they sat in silence for a long few moments.

 

"We're going to be grandparents," Blaine murmured, and Kurt glanced over to him and followed his gaze down to the sonogram. "Wow..."

 

"It's going to take a while for me to be able to wrap my head around that," Kurt replied quietly. "There wasn't this disbelief when we had Lizzie, that we were going to be dads, but I think that's because we'd been planning and waiting and having to go through such a process so obviously we knew she was coming. This was kind of... a blindside? I don't think that's the right word because I feel like it has a negative connotation, but..."

 

"It was a surprise – it _is_ a surprise – but such a good one."

 

"It's a good one," Kurt repeated, giving a small nod.

 

"So," Blaine said softly, lifting his head up to be able to look at Kurt, an eyebrow raising at him as the corners of his mouth twisted into a little smirk. "Do you think Lizzie will get this kid to call you Pop Pop like she always called your dad? Because I think that would be adorable..."

 

Kurt rolled his eyes and leaned over to press a kiss to the corner of Blaine's mouth before murmuring against it. "I would be honored, of course, but I don't really see myself as the 'Pop Pop' type. I guess we'll just have to see what happens when it happens, which... isn't _that_ far off."

 

"No it's not," Blaine agreed, turning his head to press a firm kiss against Kurt's lips before pulling away with a soft sigh. "Until then, I think we're safe to say goodbye..."

 

Kurt gave a nod and kissed him again quickly before leaning in toward the camera, a smile on his face that was just pure happiness as opposed to the concern or shock that had been there at the beginning, and that was the last thing caught before he pressed the button to stop the recording.

 

––––––––––––

 

 When the phone rang, it was late – late enough that both Kurt and Blaine were dead asleep and Kurt only managed to get to it on the last ring before it would have gone to voicemail. There was grogginess in his voice when he answered, slowly sitting up as he spoke, not having bothered to see the name that had been on the screen. If anyone were to call that late – three in the morning, he discovered when he managed to open his eyes enough to look at the clock on his nightstand – it was obviously going to be for a good enough reason that knowing who it was wasn’t the most important question.

 

As it was, hearing the voice on the other end was enough to wake him up the rest of the way. It was Eric, and it only took the tone of his voice to tell Kurt everything he needed to know – Elizabeth had gone into labor.

 

“Blaine, wake up,” Kurt said as he hung up, reaching over to jostle his husband enough to get him to stir, which only lasted a few seconds before Blaine rolled over and slung his arm across Kurt’s lap, hugging onto his legs and nuzzling his face in against his side. “ _Blaine_ , you need to get up.”

 

“Mmmkay,” Blaine mumbled, not moving. “In a minute.”

 

“No, _now_ , we have to go to the hospital.”

 

“Hospital,” Blaine repeated sleepily, and there was a long pause of silence that followed as the word seemed to hang in the room and wait for him to realize what he’d actually said, and then he quickly sat up and blinked owlishly at Kurt in the dark of the room. “Hospital?! Lizzie?”

 

“Lizzie,” Kurt confirmed, untangling his legs from the blankets as he pushed himself out of the bed and turned on the lamp beside the bed as he got to his feet, looking back to watch Blaine scrub his hands over his face to help wake himself up the rest of the way before he started to get out from under the covers and out of bed himself.

 

It wasn’t as though they weren’t prepared, because they were, despite it being a few days sooner that her due date. Eric had sounded mostly calm on the phone, or at least that’s what Kurt had thought, and he considered himself fairly experienced in knowing his son-in-law by that point. He hadn’t kept him on the phone any longer than he’d needed to, just made sure that they were alright and had everything they needed, because it wouldn’t have been entirely inconvenient for him and Blaine to swing by their house if they’d forgotten something important, but Eric hadn’t been able to think of anything.

 

They got ready to leave in an automatic, almost mechanical way, still feeling groggy despite the obvious jolt into consciousness, moving into the bathroom and standing side by side at the sink as they brushed their teeth, took turns washing their faces, and taming down the bed mussed hair that was sticking out every which way on both their heads. It was all silence save for the sound of their movements, the running water, the padding of footsteps on the tile of the bathroom floor and back and forth between there and the bedroom outside as they shifted out to it again to get changed into clothes to wear to the hospital.

 

“They were okay, right?” Blaine asked as he pulled his shirt on and nimbly started doing up the buttons on the front. “They sounded like they were fine?”

 

“They’d just gotten there,” Kurt replied, sitting on the edge of the bed to be able to put his shoes on easier, his gaze flickering over to watch him. “He sounded fine – mostly calm, maybe a little worried, but I don’t know if there’s any way _not_ to be worried.”

 

“Right,” Blaine murmured, tucking in his shirt and moving over to slip his feet into his shoes, his hands smoothing down over the front of his shirt as if to make sure he hadn’t missed anything when he’d been putting it on. “Right, but it’s going to be fine, she’s going to be fine, and the baby will be too…”

 

“Exactly,” Kurt soothed, rising up from where he’d been sitting and crossing over to rest his palm against Blaine’s cheek as he dipping his head in to press a soft kiss against his mouth, barely pulling back enough to be able to speak in a murmur. “Everyone’s going to be fine, and we’re going to go make sure they don’t need for anything while this is all going on.”

 

There was no doubting that he was concerned, and he knew Blaine was too, but there wasn’t anything they could do except know that their daughter was in the best place she could be for what she was going through, and that there were professionals all around her in case something _did_ go wrong. That was what Kurt told himself the whole trip to the hospital, during which he didn’t let go of Blaine’s hand, and he repeated it a few times more when they actually arrived and walked through the doors, the florescent lights so harsh compared to the darkness of the morning outside.

 

Eric had been texting updates as he’d been able, though there hadn’t been much once they’d gotten to the hospital beyond saying how close together the contractions were getting. The fact that it had only been simple updates like that was at least slightly comforting to Kurt, because while he was sure Eric wouldn’t want to let them know via _text message_ if something was wrong, he was almost certain he would have said _something_ at least if anything had come up to be concerned about.

 

Once they were pointed in the right direction, all it took was a quick stop to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee for Eric before they were headed into the right room, greeted with tired smiles from both their daughter and son-in-law.

 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Elizabeth said, shifting up to the edge of the bed carefully and holding her hands out to them both. Kurt shifted forward to take one, passing the coffee over to Eric, and leaned down to press a kiss against her hair, glancing over to watch Blaine take her other hand and use his free one to rub against her back gently. “I feel like this is taking forev—aaaah…”

 

Kurt stood up straighter as she leaned forward, her shoulder pressing in against his stomach as she groaned, her grip on his hand tightening almost to the point where he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to let her hold it anymore. From the look on Blaine’s face, Kurt could tell he was in the same boat, and he just bit his lip and looked down at her, waiting for the contraction to pass as Blaine’s hand smoothly rubbed against the fabric of the hospital gown.

 

“They’re getting pretty close together,” Eric offered quietly from where he was sitting up toward the head of the bed, where Elizabeth had been before she moved to see them. “I waited to call until we were here because I know this can take a long time, so I figured… there wasn’t much cause until we were in the thick of it…”

 

“No, of course,” Blaine murmured, and Kurt brought up his free hand to stroke through Elizabeth’s hair as she clutched tighter onto his hand. “It’s okay, Lizzie… you’re going to be fine…”

 

“It _hurts_ ,” she whispered against Kurt’s stomach, her shoulders slowly relaxing and her grip loosening on his hand as she sat up straighter again. “I mean, I knew it would hurt but I don’t think it matters how much they say it, it’ll never tell you _just how much_.”

 

“It’s a good thing you’re such a fierce Lizzie-bear,” Kurt said softly, tucking a stray piece of hair back into the rest. “The most ferocious one there is – you’ll show those contractions who’s boss.”

 

“Rawr…” It was a slightly half-hearted growl, but it had made the corners of Elizabeth’s mouth quirk up in a smile when she’d made the sound, and Kurt leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead.

 

“That’s my girl.”

 

Even with Eric waiting to call them until he and Elizabeth had gotten to the hospital, and the time it had taken Kurt and Blaine to get ready and travel there, they were still sitting there for a couple hours before it was determined that it was _time_. Those hours had been filled with numerous trips to the cafeteria for more coffee, which made Elizabeth glare at them, but she also said she didn’t want anyone falling asleep so she _supposed_ she understood but she really wanted to drink it all instead of letting them have it, and a lot of hands being crushed in hers. Kurt had always thought she had delicate hands, and she did – long fingers that had been so good at playing the piano beside Blaine, and that flew across the keys of her computer’s keyboard while she was writing – but them being delicate didn’t stop her from making him feel like his own might get broken before the baby was born.

 

They left the room when the rest of the staff came in to help her get through the rest, and waiting in the hall just outside wasn’t Kurt’s favorite place to be but he knew it was better to be there than inside. It wasn’t as though they would be anything more than in the way, and Eric clearly had a grasp on what he was doing to keep Elizabeth grounded and help her work through everything. Once again he found himself grateful for the fact that Elizabeth had found the exact right person to spend the rest of her life with, because he couldn’t imagine anyone else being able to make her so happy and keep her that calm in circumstances such as those.

 

Blaine went back and forth between pacing beside the door and standing close to Kurt, holding his hand and letting his thumb rub over the back of it soothingly, such a glorious contrast from how it had been squeezed and gripped so tightly just on the other side of the wall they were leaning against. They could hear everything going on inside the room, the voices muffled but not enough to be incoherent. Kurt lost track of what was being said, how long they’d been standing out there, the amount of times he’d heard the word ‘push’ being said by all the various voices.

 

None of that mattered once it was over, once the voices seemed to die down briefly and it was almost like they could feel the relief coming out of the room as a couple nurses left. It was only a little while longer before they were allowed back inside and able to see their family, complete with the newest addition.

 

“It’s a boy, he’s a boy,” Elizabeth murmured as they approached her bed, and she looked exhausted beyond belief but still with a content smile managing to overtake her features. “He’s so little and perfect…”

 

“He’s beautiful,” Blaine whispered as they looked down at the infant in her arms, and Kurt couldn’t help but agree.

 

Of course he wasn’t as beautiful as he would be in a few days, a few weeks, when he wasn’t so _just born,_ but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see the little hints of Elizabeth and Eric there in his face. There was Elizabeth’s nose, the color of her hair, and Eric’s lips – parted slightly as Elizabeth shifted how her arms were holding him, bringing him in closer against her as she glanced back at her husband.

 

“We had names picked out, for both… because we didn’t know, but…”

 

“What’s his name?” Kurt asked, carefully reaching down to brush the back of his finger against one of the baby’s chubby little cheeks, his gaze fixed on him for a long second before it flickered back up to look at his daughter.

 

“Well, we thought… we wanted to name him after people who had been important to us,” Elizabeth started, biting her lip and looking down at the infant in her arms. “And there are _so_ many people who are important, but we knew… and so…”

 

“It’s alright, sweetie,” Eric murmured, perching beside her on the bed and leaning in to press a kiss against her temple.

 

“Burt Elliott,” Elizabeth said quietly, her gaze shifting up to meet Kurt’s and then flicker over to Blaine’s, moving back and forth as she spoke. “For Pop Pop, and Eric’s grandpa…”

 

Kurt felt like his breath had been knocked out of him, but for the best possible reason, because he felt like he couldn’t inhale without feeling an aching in his throat that was a sure sign that he was going to cry. Elizabeth had always been close to his dad, and he remembered how much she’d always get excited to go visit him and Carole, how she would get Kurt to make her coveralls that were the right size and with sequins around the ‘Hummel Tires and Lube’ patch on the front. She’d even wear one of his hats, always too big and falling down off her head every few seconds, but she didn’t care she would just push it back up and giggle when Burt would inevitably tickle at her neck with the ends of her pigtails.

 

“That’s a beautiful name,” Blaine replied, his voice thick with emotion even with how softly he was speaking. “It’s perfect, Lizzie.”

 

“Perfect,” Kurt repeated, bringing up his hand to swipe away a tear that slipped from the corner of his eye, swallowing hard as Elizabeth gave him a smile, her eyes shining with tears. “Just like you.”

 

“Do you want to hold him?” She asked in a whisper, biting her lip as she kept her gaze fixed on his. “I think he’d like that.”

 

“I’d love to,” Kurt replied, leaning down to press a kiss against her cheek, murmuring the quietest ‘thank you’ before standing straighter again so she could carefully pass Burt up to him, and he took his grandson into his arms for the first time. Blaine slid in against his side and slipped his arm around his waist, resting his head against Kurt’s shoulder to look down at him too, and Kurt didn’t think he could possibly come up with anything more to say than had been said already, so he didn’t even try.


	16. Chapter 16

Ohio wasn’t a place that they normally went, at least not much by that point in their lives. There had been family visits, holidays, all that sort of thing, but time went by and as the years went on there was less and less family to be involved until there was none, and that meant that neither Kurt nor Blaine had much cause to make the trip there. It was a place that always held a special spot in their hearts, because it had made them who they were – for better or worse – but that didn’t mean they planned trips there on a whim anymore not like they had when they would go to surprise their parents with a visit, or when they would surprise Lizzie with a week away in the summer to visit her grandparents with no dads allowed.

 

That was why it was even more special when they found a reason to go back, because there were so many good memories that stood out among any of the bad ones there were, and even after all that time they were vivid and bright in their minds. The memories that stuck out the best were the ones that had to do with their time in high school, their time in glee club, and that was probably for the best considering that was the reason they were there.

 

It was Blaine’s fiftieth class reunion, a number that he’d proclaimed made him feel old – and Kurt had been quick to point out that _he’d_ had _his_ the year before so what exactly was Blaine trying to say?

 

Kurt’s own hadn’t been that exciting, if he was being honest. Sure, there had been people he’d been glad to see and spend time with, and he always took that bit of pride in the fact that he was so successful – just like he’d always told all the people who had bullied him he would be. In normal circumstances he tended to be humble, modest, even after so many decades of success, because being grounded and more down to earth is what made him who he was, even in the world of fashion, but when he’d been at his reunion he hadn’t cared.

 

The fact of the matter was that the people he cared about were the ones he’d been in touch with throughout the years anyway, so it wasn’t as though they had a world of catching up to do. Technology had definitely been their friend, making it easy to keep up to date on what everyone was doing. Kurt remembered hearing stories from his dad about getting together with his friends from back in the day, how it had always been so difficult to figure out where everyone was and how they didn’t hear from each other that often so it was like years and years of catch up every time they did.

 

It was one of the many reasons Kurt was glad he’d grown up when technology was getting good – that by the time he graduated high school, everyone he knew and wanted to keep in contact with had Facebook, most of them had Twitter, too, and if nothing else there was the instant gratification of texts and emails to keep them in contact. That made it so that getting together with friends wasn’t so much the hours of talking about everything that had happened in the meantime, because they’d seen so much of it already and could just pick right up where they’d left off otherwise.

 

That was why the high school reunion hadn’t been that big of a deal for him – because there were only a few people in his graduating class he cared to see, and he kept up with them and their lives on a regular enough basis that it wasn’t overwhelming to see them all at once.

 

Blaine’s was a different story, mostly because Blaine had enjoyed his time at McKinley more than Kurt had. He’d been _involved_ in so many pieces and parts of the school and student body that Kurt had trouble remembering that Blaine hadn’t been there all along – but of course he hadn’t, because he’d been at Dalton, and if he hadn’t been at Dalton than who knows if they’d have been where they were in their lives together.

 

Of course Blaine had been in contact with people over the years, definitely more than Kurt had at least, but that didn’t stop him from being excited about the reunions. Part of it was that he had to do a lot of the planning, or at least that’s how Kurt saw it, because as the student class president of his graduating class, Blaine was in charge of that sort of thing. That was why Blaine’s reunions were always so well put together and Kurt was left constantly surprised that his happened as well as they did – but then again, he assumed that Brittany had help by way of Santana to make sure they went off without much of a hitch.

 

The fact that it was the fiftieth reunion meant that it was more important than any of the previous ones had been. Fifty was a _milestone,_ a _big_ one, and that was why they had flown in a few days prior to it so Blaine could make sure everything was going to go as he’d planned. There had been the big reunion of the entire class, but Blaine had also planned a smaller reunion for just the glee club – not just the members who had graduated the same year as him but also anyone else who had been in it that year, because they’d been a team and what was the point of only having part of it there when they’d all contributed so much?

 

That was the part of the trip to Ohio that Kurt had been looking forward to much more than the rest of it, because with the glee club he knew what he was going to get – they were people that he knew, or had known, whether personally or through Blaine. Plus, if nothing else, it was a much smaller occasion, and those were the types of events that Kurt loved the most. There were enough over the top, boisterous events and parties, and the more intimate and personal ones were the ones he liked to go to the most.

 

Above all else, the glee club party held the moment he’d been waiting for a long time – that he and Blaine had _both_ been waiting for – but he thought perhaps he’d been anticipating it more than his husband.

 

The two of them had spent years making videos of their lives, videos capturing moments from the small things to the most important ones – all of which were subjective but since they were the ones who determined what mattered, they knew what had been necessary to get, necessary to keep. It had all started because of one, and Kurt had never forgotten that any of the times they'd picked up a camera following it. Without that first video, none of the other ones would have happened, and that was why he was looking forward to seeing it there at the glee club party.

 

Blaine's time capsule video he'd made his senior year hadn't been seen, by them or anyone else, since Blaine had sent it to Kurt to see what he'd thought.

 

Kurt remembered bits and pieces, but not all of it together. More than anything he remembered the conversation they'd had following it, not the video itself. The video was what had sparked so much, though, and he remembered that it had made him smile to watch it – just like so many of the videos they'd made throughout the years together had when they'd found the time to watch them back so many years later. It had been _fifty years_ since it had all started, and that in itself was a feat enough to make him smile before it started.

 

"This is nice, everyone being together," Blaine murmured as he slid in next to Kurt, fresh off a conversation with Sam that had looked entertaining from where Kurt had stood off to the side, seeing it out of the corner of his eye as he'd talked to Tina. "It's been so long but it feels like everything just falls back into place like it was just our last reunion yesterday..."

 

"That's always good, when that happens," Kurt replied, sliding his arm around Blaine's waist and hugging him in against his side. "Sure beats the awkward standing around and not knowing what to do or say reunions."

 

"Exactly," Blaine said with a soft chuckle, bringing up the cup in his hand to take the last sip of his drink before he tossed it into a nearby trash can. "It's much more relaxing than the full out class reunion, too – just the people I knew the best instead of _everyone_."

 

"Mhmm," Kurt agreed, his thumb rubbing absently against the fabric of Blaine's jacket, his eyes surveying over the room and looking at everyone gathered there. Even the people he hadn't known personally when he'd been at McKinley, he'd gotten to know them over the years and reunions thanks to Blaine, and it really was like they were part of the glee club family he'd had. "So what's the–"

 

"Attention everyone!" Sam interrupted, speaking loudly over the conversations happening around the room, all of which quickly petered off to turn their attention toward where he was standing. "I just got word that they got the screen hooked up so we can watch this video..."

 

"Oh..." Blaine's eyes went a little wide as he took a step away from Kurt, looking back to him with his brow furrowed as he spoke quietly. "I don't know if Sam had the right list of videos – we had a few different ones than the last reunion, from the competitions and then a montage from the musical, too, but he never came to get it from me..."

 

"They're all blasts from the past, but one specific one that none of us have ever seen before, so I think we should watch that first!"

_This is a little weird to do and weird to say. But um, hi Blaine. Hello, me._

 

Kurt gaze immediately moved to the screen, looking at the much younger version of his husband that was on it, watching out of the corner of his eye as Blaine turned to look at the screen too, his eyes just as wide as they had been before. It wasn't like Kurt had forgotten at all how Blaine had looked back in high school, he couldn't have – not with the amount of pictures and videos that had been floating around ever since. It was just seeing him there, then, that beautiful and slightly nervous smile turning up the corners of his mouth, that seemed to hit him like a memory long forgotten.

 

Based on the reactions of the rest of the glee club members scattered around the room, none of them had known about Blaine making the video in the first place, or they'd long forgotten over the years. Either way, there were a lot of surprised expressions at first, none of which lasted too long, quickly fading into smiles and titters of laughter at Blaine's comments over injecting stem cells into their skin to keep looking young.

 

"Too bad that never worked out," Blaine murmured beside him, and Kurt glanced over with a smile, pressing a kiss against his cheek.

 

"I happen to think you look incredible, even without that."

_You are also sitting next to your famous husband Kurt Hummel, the wildly successful beautiful star of the galaxy. Oh my god, “star of the galaxy,” that’s so dumb, that probably won’t be funny in the future. But I love you, future-Kurt._

 

"Now _that_ worked out perfectly," Blaine whispered, his arm sliding around Kurt's waist and pulling him in closer.

 

_Or possibly your second husband, Tom Hardy. Hey future-Tom Hardy, you’ve always looked good, you don’t need stem cells._

 

"You were saying?" Kurt replied with a snort of laughter, and Blaine tickled against his side, not managing to elicit much of a reaction thanks to the protection Kurt had in form of his jacket.

 

It was just as adorable and silly a video as he remembered it being, the perfect mixture of seriousness in discussing all the events that had happened during the year as well as the ridiculousness of Blaine going off on tangents about cyborgs and the potential the apocalypse had happened before they'd made it to their fiftieth reunion. Kurt moved from where he was standing not long into the video, slipping out of how Blaine's arm was around him and taking a step behind his husband, sliding his arms around him from behind and hugging him back against his chest, resting his cheek against his temple as they watched the video play up in front of them.

_But the hardest part was it was time to move on for a lot of people, including Kurt. This year was… about growing up. And growing up sucks._

 

It wasn't until those words were spoken that Kurt remembered how much they'd stung the first time he'd heard them. The year the video was made had been a rocky one, something he could easily write off as forgetting because of all the good that had come out of it, but that didn't change that what past-Blaine said in the video was true. It had been hard when he'd gone to New York, hard for so many reasons, and growing up had sucked at first – but it had gotten much easier and less difficult once they'd started doing it together.

_Sometimes it feels like it’s been the most exciting time of my life and sometimes I’m terrified because I’m not really sure where I’m gonna end up. But if I’m watching this in 2063, and I’m 68, and I’m at a reunion. I hope that no matter what I’m surrounded by my friends._

 

Blaine leaned back against Kurt's chest and Kurt felt him sigh. Looking around the room, it was clear that Blaine had been aware of what it was going to be like in the future, because he had been right about so much. They were there together – though lacking Tom Hardy – and all of the people who had been his friends, his best friends, during his senior year of high school were there with them. So much else had gone on in their lives, and the lives of the people there in that room, but they had all made it back to Lima fifty years later to spend time with each other.

_I was just an ordinary kid in 2013. I didn’t save the world, or change history, but I was here. I sang my heart out with my friends and… in the end, it wasn’t really about winning trophies. Or about winning anything really. Everything that really mattered was… my friends. Happy Fiftieth High School Reunion, you guys. Blaine Anderson, signing off._

 

There was silence when the screen went blank, and Kurt's arms tightened around Blaine, hugging onto him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Seeing the video again, seeing that wide, bright eyed, younger version of the man in his arms, was enough to bring tears to his eyes because they had come _so far_ and that video was a perfect reminder of where they had started. He hadn't been there for it, hadn't been at the school for all the different events Blaine had outlined, but the overarching message that had been there was one he knew well – no matter what else happens, focus on the good times and the friends involved.

 

"You were never just an ordinary kid," Kurt murmured, rubbing his fingertips in against Blaine's sides as the next video started up, playing a clip from one of the competitions that had happened. "There was never, ever anything ordinary about you, Blaine."

 

"Kurt..." Blaine shook his head, and Kurt loosened his hold enough that Blaine could turn around to face him, but he didn't pull his arms completely away from being around him. "You know what I meant."

 

"And you know what _I_ mean," Kurt replied, leaning in to press a soft kiss against his lips. "You might not have saved the world in 2013, but you saved _my_ world before then, back when we first met. You might not have changed history, but you decided what would happen in the future. You were here, you sang with your friends, and you were _far_ from ordinary for any of that."

 

Blaine brought his hands up to rest on Kurt's chest, fingers smoothing over the lapels of his jacket before his palms slid up further, running over his shoulders and up to rest against the back of his neck before moving up to cup his jaw. There was so much familiarity in every gesture, every one having been done hundreds of times over again across the years, but it wasn't anything Kurt would ever tire of, not when there was so much care in every touch like it was the first time every time.

 

"I'm so glad you're my husband," Blaine murmured, his thumbs brushing gently against Kurt's cheeks, his eyes sparkling in that same bright way they had in the video, the same way they always had and always would, Kurt was sure. He'd joked over the years the Blaine had gotten sprinkled with some kind of magical pixie dust when he was born and that was what made him so much the way he was, so _Blaine_ -like, but some of it had gotten stuck in his eyes and that was why they sparkled like they did. "My wildly successful beautiful star of the galaxy husband."

 

"I'm glad, too," Kurt said, a smile spreading across his features and making the corners of his eyes crinkle. "Even if it means you never got your second husband?"

 

"I couldn't imagine ever needing a second one if you were my first," Blaine replied, leaning up to press a lingering kiss against his lips, humming softly in the back of his throat before pulling back and letting his hands drop down to rest on Kurt's chest again. "Not even Tom Hardy."

 

"I'm also glad no one here's a cyborg," Kurt added teasingly, and Blaine huffed out a laugh in response. "Well I am!"

 

"I'm glad I made that video," Blaine said after a long moment of silence between them, the music playing from the video behind them filling the space. "Not just because of this, even though that was important too, but for what it did."

 

"It caused so much over the years," Kurt agreed, dropping a quick kiss against the corner of Blaine's mouth. "You sparked this thing that's followed us around our entire lives, all with your talk of cyborgs and stem cell injections..."

 

"And how much I loved you, future-Kurt."

 

"Especially that," Kurt murmured, bringing his arms up to circle around Blaine's shoulders, resting their foreheads together and smiling softly. "I love you, too."

 

"You know what this fiftieth reunion means, don't you?" Blaine asked as he moved his hands down to slide around Kurt's waist. "That our fiftieth anniversary is coming up."

 

"We'll have to start planning."

 

"Let's get through this fiftieth first, and then we can start."

 

"I say we watch videos from our past anniversaries to get ideas."

 

"Sounds perfect," Blaine replied, starting to sway slowly with the music playing from behind him. "But for now, dance with me?"

 

Kurt couldn't remember a single time he turned down that specific request, and he wasn't about to start then, so he gladly did.


	17. Chapter 17

Just like how some days were better than others, some rooms at the retirement home were definitely better than others – whether it was a particularly good day or not.

 

When Katie had started working at that particular home, she'd learned very quickly about some rooms, some residents.

 

There was Mr. Jackson, who talked to anyone who would stop to listen or talk back and, despite the fact that he'd been on medication for Alzheimer’s for many decades, had such vivid and clear memories from his childhood and growing up that he could keep almost anyone enthralled with the stories he told. Then there was Mrs. Bennett, who didn't have the same luck as far as her memory and mental state went, and who didn't recognize her family members every time when they would come to visit.

 

Most residents were pleasant enough, though some were mean, others sad. Katie supposed there was a mixture of all that sort at any of those kinds of places. There was always going to be a combination of those who were sicker, who hadn't had the luck or genetics to have aged as gracefully or well as others, but that was why they were there. It was why they were _all_ there, it was just a matter of figuring out everyone's quirks and the best ways to keep them in as good of health as possible, to keep them entertained as they whiled away the days.

 

It was during her first week there that the nurse she was shadowing offered her a knowing smile while they walked down the hall toward a wing where she hadn't had the chance to go yet. That smile was the same one she'd seen when she'd been introduced to Mr. Jackson, and again when she'd first met a woman named Rosa who seemed to consider everyone who worked there part of her family, and who had immediately wanted to learn all about her life leading up to that point – including her favorite color so she could knit her a scarf. It was just that _that_ time the smile was slightly different, and definitely the most intriguing she'd ever found it to be.

 

"Why do I feel like you're about to let me in on some secret?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

"If it's a secret, it's the worst kept one in the entire place," came the response, and the smile grew. "Room 206 – it's everyone's favorite place. I don't know a single person who's ever come out of there with anything less than a smile on their face. I'll warn you that it's easy to lose track of time, to get sucked in and forget that you're supposed to be working, but other than doing your rounds and checking in, it's a good place to go toward the end of the day, or if it's slow, or if you really need something to make you smile."

 

"Who's in 206?"

 

"The only married couple we have here – Blaine and Kurt Anderson-Hummel. They're as easy to work with as anyone here, both sweet, fun, wonderful gentlemen, neither of whom have any serious health issues that we have to keep a particular eye on. They tend to keep more to themselves than some of the others we have around, but I guess it makes sense because they have each other to keep company."

 

They drew up close to the door, which was partway opened, enough for Katie to glance inside and see the state of the room – cozy, very much made into a home, and with two elderly men sitting close together on a couch, looking down at a computer in front of them and smiling at whatever they were seeing. Even just from that, she could understand why that room was a place the employees liked to go, because it looked warm and inviting, and the men there looked the same, like they could be anyone's grandpas and just walking into the room would earn a hug and maybe a kiss on the cheek before being taken over to sit on the couch with them to catch up on what had been happening.

 

"What are they watching?" she asked quietly, glancing back to her companion, who was looking over some paperwork as she leaned against the wall.

 

"I couldn't say," she answered smoothly, and that knowing smile just grew as she moved away from the wall with a shrug. "Maybe you should ask them. Go introduce yourself, I'll come find you if I need your help with something."

 

Katie watched as she walked away before her gaze turned back to the door to the room, not quite open enough for an invitation but not closed completely for privacy either. She knocked lightly as she pushed it open the rest of the way so she could go inside, drawing their attention away from the screen and offering them both a smile as she crossed the room to get to where they were sitting to be able to introduce herself properly.

 

"Hi there, I'm Katie, I'm new here, just started working a few days ago and didn't have a chance to stop in and say hello to you before," she said, extending her hand first to one, then the other, not sure which was Blaine and which was Kurt, but figuring that mystery could be solved easily enough. "Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel, correct?"

 

"Correct." The man closest to her spoke first, the one with the carefully styled hair and the bow tie smartly straightened beneath the collar of his shirt, an easy smile spreading across his features as he looked up at her. "I'm Blaine, and this is my husband, Kurt."

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

 

"And you," Kurt replied, sitting up a little straighter and drawing his hand back from where he'd reached up to shake hers.

 

"I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you were watching, I just figured I would stop in since I was down this way," Katie went on, and Blaine gave a small shake of his head to stop her from apologizing any more.

 

"It's fine, we're used to having visitors from time to time." He chuckled and reached over to rest his hand on Kurt's knee, his thumb rubbing over it lightly as he looked at him. "Isn't that right?"

 

"I can't remember the last time we didn't have a day where people dropped in," Kurt agreed, a little grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Luckily we haven't been doing anything that would cause a scandal..."

 

"Well I would hope someone would knock if your door was closed," Katie replied with a soft laugh, absently smoothing her hands over the front of her scrubs. "I heard that you had quite the popular room, so I just had to come and check it out for myself. From the talk, I expected there to be some kind of serious entertainment going on."

 

"Oh, there's talk?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow as he grinned softly. "I shudder to think of what rumors are being spread around the staff because of us."

 

"I hardly think it's anything _horrible_."

 

"It's nothing bad, I promise," Katie said, shaking her head and giving a quick glance around the room to take it in better since she was inside and able to see it all. "I just heard that you're both wonderful and make people smile – so clearly, nothing bad at all."

 

"You can sit, if you want." Her attention got drawn back to them, away from the pictures on the wall, when Kurt spoke, and she glanced down to see them both looking up at her with inviting smiles. "Unless you have work to do, of course."

 

"Nothing that would keep me from sitting for a few minutes," she conceded as she moved to sit on the empty cushion of the couch. "Thank you."

 

Once she was seated she could see the screen of the computer fully, the image that was paused clearly from the movie they'd been watching, but not something that she recognized. She didn't want to intrude in asking them what it was, but she figured it wasn't a question that could hurt – and besides, she'd been told she should ask them if she really wanted to know, so if it was something she shouldn't be asking she assumed she wouldn't have been encouraged to do so by someone who knew much better than her.

 

"What's this?" she asked as she nodded toward the computer, letting her gaze linger on the screen for a few more seconds before she looked back to them. Blaine's eyes were almost _sparking_ at the question, and Kurt slid his hand to rest over where Blaine's was still on his leg.

 

"It's a video from, well... from when I proposed," Blaine replied, unable to stop the smile that spread across his features. "It was a bit of an elaborate spectacle."

 

"Which made it perfect," Kurt added, and Katie glanced back to the screen to try and discern them from the rest in the slightly blurred image that was there. "It was the most perfect moment of my life up until then."

 

"Here, I'll rewind it for you."

 

Before Katie could even register what was happening, Blaine leaned forward and ran the video back to get to the beginning, a spliced in interview of him talking to the camera by himself. She could tell it was him, so _obviously_ the man sitting next to her – just so many years younger. He had those same sparkling eyes, that smile that seemed to brighten the entire room, and an earnestness about everything he was saying that she felt like she had no choice but to believe each word with every single fiber of her being. There was so much love in everything he was saying that it brought a lump to her throat, and that was before the video of the actual proposal itself started.

 

Blaine had been right when he'd said it was elaborate, and a bit of a spectacle, but she could tell both from the Kurt on film and the one sitting down the couch from her that it was exactly the right amount of spectacle and romance for the people involved. She couldn't help it when a few tears fell from her eyes, the raw love and emotion right there on the screen feeling like it was squeezing and pulling at her heart, all because of these two men she'd barely met ten minutes prior. There was _so much_ love, and Blaine's speech was just as earnest and heartfelt as everything he'd said in the video before the proposal, if not more, and she quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks during the brief pause between the end of the proposal and them popping up on the screen again together after Kurt said yes, and they'd kissed, and given her easily the most romantic moment she'd ever seen captured on film.

 

It wasn't as though it got any less emotional then, because as soon as Kurt asked for Blaine to give him a minute, it was like she knew it was about to get even more so than it had been – and she was right. To her, it felt like she was looking in on a private moment of their lives, like she was seeing something that had only been meant for them – and maybe that was what it had been at one point, because why else would these moments have been caught on film? – but even with that slight feeling of intrusion, she was glad that she _was_ seeing it because it was so _beautiful_ and honest that she didn't even know what to say once the video was done and Blaine leaned forward to stop it.

 

"Wow, I..." she paused, clearing her throat to get a little more control over her voice as she gave a shake of her head. "That was beautiful, _really_ beautiful. "How long have you been married?"

 

"Seventy-four years, eleven months, and a bunch of days," Blaine replied, leaning over to press a kiss to Kurt's cheek. "Our anniversary is next week."

 

"Next week?" Katie asked, the amount of time making her feel as though she hadn't heard them clearly and needed clarification. "I'm assuming there's been a celebration planned? Seventy-five years is _definitely_ something worth celebrating."

 

"Oh, we've had some things in the works, but mostly we're just glad we've made it this far," Kurt said, lacing his fingers with Blaine's and giving his hand a noticeable squeeze. "And we've definitely got lots of years after that to go, because I'm no where near ready to be done."

 

"Me either," Blaine agreed quietly, the corners of his eyes crinkling as his smile spread across his features. "I'll never be ready."

 

"Well I'll have to make sure to be here for that," Katie said as she moved to stand up, feeling like she should get back to work even though she was sure she could have stayed there for the rest of her shift and been content. Truthfully, it was one part feeling like she should be working but at least two parts feeling as though she should let them get back to the reminiscing she'd interrupted when she'd come in. "Let me know if you need any help with the planning – I may be new but I'm sure there are lots of strings I could pull."

 

"We definitely will," Blaine replied, lifting up his free hand to catch hers and squeeze it gently. "Thank you."

 

––––––––––––

 

When the Anderson-Hummel anniversary happened, it was like everything else stopped – and rightfully so. Katie couldn't think of anyone else she knew that had made it to _seventy-five years_ of marriage. It was a twinge of bittersweet for some of the other residents, those who had lost their spouses, but for the most part everyone seemed to be happy for the couple and just as excited for a celebration if nothing else. For people who had been described as those who kept to themselves more than socializing with others, Kurt and Blaine seemed to have a friendly relationship at the least with everyone else who lived in the home, so that seemed to surpass a lot of the bittersweet emotions that came through the door into the main living room that had been decorated for the occasion.

 

It wasn't just the residents who were there, but the staff as well – even those who had the day off made sure to come in to join in with the festivities, and the Anderson-Hummel family was sure to be there as well. Katie met their daughter Elizabeth, and her children, and their children, and every single one of them was so sweet that it was easy to see how they were all related to the men she'd had the complete pleasure of meeting less than a week prior – and had stopped in on to see every day since.

 

What Katie had quickly learned was that the proposal was just the beginning of all the moments they had captured on film, easily ready to watch and share. Getting to see the much younger versions of the men she quickly got to know in the short days of the acquaintance was something she'd never experienced before, and she was sure she'd never experience again. She could see them so clearly, the mannerisms that were the same from the day the video was made to them sitting there beside her, and the fact that there had always been so much love, and it had only grown over the years. Considering where it had started, it made her wonder if their hearts were somehow abnormally large – like how the Grinch's heart grew three times as big, but their hearts were just that way normally.

 

Watching the videos was something they always did, according to the staff, but it was usually just a video here or there, whatever they felt like watching at the time. Everything leading up to their anniversary had been deliberately planned, from the day Katie had first met them and seen the proposal to the day they all stood there in the living room, celebrating seventy-five years of marriage between them. The proposal had been first, but then it had been all the videos between then and when they actually got married, moments pulled from their lives and showing so much even through words that might not have meant that much passed between anyone else, but it was /them/ and every word seemed to carry the perfect amount of weight to show just how much it meant.

 

The videos were also the perfect amount of sweet and ridiculous to capture the men that she'd quickly gotten to know, because that seemed to sum them up just right. They /were/ sweet, and loving, and very much people she wish she'd gotten to know sooner, but they were also ornery and silly, and that wasn't showcased any better than when they were together and talking – or in the first video that showed up on the screen at the party, starting with a very young and  sleep rumpled Blaine popping onto the screen and talking about how it was the morning of their wedding, which easily turned into him going to wake up Kurt, and the sheer _love_ that was there on the screen with the ease of kisses passed back and forth and the joy of the day was almost palpable because of how happy the two of them were. The Kurt and Blaine standing in the room with her were unabashed, unashamed by what their past selves were doing on the screen, and she wouldn't have expected anything less even in the short time she'd known them.

 

It was like background noise when the ceremony came on. People were paying attention to it, but at the same time it wasn't as though they were focused in on every word being said. Katie could hear the vows being proclaimed from the speakers, but her attention was far more focused on the real life versions of Kurt and Blaine who were standing there not ten feet from her, mouthing along with them as if the words were still fresh on their tongues.

 

"I love you," Kurt murmured as he slipped his arms around Blaine, slowly starting to sway in time with the music playing on the video once the ceremony itself was over, and Blaine easily followed suit, as if it was second nature – which it probably was by that point.

 

"I love you, too," Blaine said softly, moving his hand up to take one of Kurt's, holding it in his own and bringing it up to brush a kiss against his knuckles. "All I ever wanted to do was spend my life loving you."

 

"You have," Kurt replied, tilting his head in to rest their foreheads together. "Please promise you'll find me just as soon next time, if not sooner? I don't want to have to wait for you any longer than I have to."

 

"We'll find each other, and we'll fall in love, and we'll have another seventy-five years or more to add to the rest. I'll never stop loving you, Kurt Hummel. Not in this lifetime, or the next, or the one after that. Over and over..."

 

"...for all eternity."


End file.
